After learning the heartbreaking news that he would be replaced by Lewis Hamilton at the end of the 2024 season, the last thing Carlos Sainz wanted was any untoward news or incidents that would mar his final year with Ferrari. Unfortunately, just weeks later, he developed appendicitis, forcing him to sit out a race.
Sainz experienced abdominal pain during FP1 in Saudi Arabia. When the pain became unbearable, he went to the hospital, where doctors performed emergency surgery. Oliver Bearman stepped in to replace him for the race in Jeddah and was also preparing to race in the subsequent outing in Australia.
Still recovering, the #55 driver flew to Melbourne, but there were doubts about his fitness levels to go racing again. That’s when he joked with his mother about winning the Grand Prix.
“I remember leaving home still in pain,” Sainz recalled on the Beyond the Grid podcast. “And I tell my mother, ‘Well, here I go. I’m going all the way to Australia without even knowing if I’m going to be racing. And then I tell her something like, ‘Imagine if I win’.”
To put things into perspective, the first seven days after his operation, the 30-year-old couldn’t even move out of bed. His pain was so strenuous at times that he would roll in his bed crying if he had to sneeze or cough.
Despite that and the mental agony, Sainz went into the weekend determined to get back to his best. And he did win, marking Ferrari’s first win of the 2024 season, which was going to be his last with the Maranello-based outfit.
How Alex Albon helped Sainz win
Sainz went on to reveal that he usually did not arrive at the circuit a day prior to the scheduled arrivals. However, this time he arrived at the track one day in advance to have a game plan ready for the weekend ahead.
One of the biggest struggles he was going to face was the way that F1 belts are put on. Because of his surgery, he was unsure if his core and abdomen could take that pressure for the sessions in the car. That’s where Alex Albon came in to help.
CARLOS SAINZ WINS IN AUSTRALIA!
The Smooth Operator seals a sensational win Down Under just two weeks after emergency surgery #F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/97Rt3AtbCL
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 24, 2024
Albon, who had gone through the same procedure two years before, was approached by the Spaniard for some tips. “Alex came in, gave me a hand, and showed me what he did with the belts,” revealed the 30-year-old. From there on, Sainz powered through the weekend to snatch his third overall win for Ferrari. A memorable moment for the 30-year-old, who will join Williams in a few weeks.
