It’s no surprise that Carlos Sainz lives and breathes racing. After all, his father Carlos Sainz Sr., at the age of 62, is braving the dunes of the Saudi Arabian desert, competing in the 2025 Dakar Rally, hoping to repeat his heroics from last year when he won the prestigious rallying event for the fifth time.
A proud son watching on from home, Sainz decided to publicly declare his father the Greatest of all Time (GOAT), a title that many in Spain — their home country — would happily associate him with. “GOAT definition,” a caption that Sainz shared. “Driving at 185 km/h, no windshield, your hand as a Sun strip“, he wrote, describing how his father was driving in the ongoing rally.
Sainz Sr. has already broken the age barrier having emerged victorious in 2024. He won it as a 61-year-old, and ahead of this year’s race, insisted that he was in even better physical condition.
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Unfortunately, things didn’t go too well overall for Sainz Sr. as his Ford Raptor flipped in the desert, damaging his car, and also puncturing his tire, putting him at a massive disadvantage. At the end of the second stage, he finds himself an hour and a half behind leader Henk Lategan.
However, this takes nothing away from the legend that Sainz Sr. is. The two-time rallying World Champion is arguably one of Spain’s greatest names in motorsports ever. His son has also tried his best to live up to that benchmark during his stint with Ferrari. Unfortunately, that chapter has come to a close for the 30-year-old.
Sainz and his father share the track
Sainz did not go down the rallying path like his father but chose to follow his F1 dreams instead. It took some time for him to establish himself as one of the top drivers of the grid, but in 2021 when he moved to Ferrari, that’s what happened.
Two generations, one track. Carlos Sainz and his dad, side by side#ScuderiaFerrari pic.twitter.com/2WfU2nNT6u
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) December 17, 2024
Although Sainz could never challenge for the world title, he won three races with Ferrari, until the Maranello-based outfit decided to replace him with Lewis Hamilton ahead of the 2025 season. But before Sainz left, Ferrari had a memorable present for him and his dad.
Both of them got to share the track at Fiorano, where they got to drive the F1-75 — the car that helped the #55 driver win his maiden race in Silverstone in 2022.
