Despite taking the tough decision of replacing Carlos Sainz with Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari tried to make amends by arranging a private test for the Spanish racing ace and his father, Carlos Sainz Sr, at the team’s test track in Fiorano. It turned out to be a beautiful tribute to the #55 driver’s time at Ferrari and at the same time, it was a nice gesture to one of motorsport’s all-time greats.
The idea behind the private test was to allow Sainz Sr to get acclimatized with his son’s 2024 challenger, the SF-24. After that, the duo was scheduled to run laps on the track together. Safe to say, Sainz Sr was in awe of last season’s F1 machinery and gave a fitting debrief after his first installation lap.
In a video uploaded to the former Ferrari driver’s YouTube channel, Sainz Sr can be heard saying, “Amazing. I’ve only done one lap, and it’s impressive how it accelerates!”
sainz sr : i want to thank you all of you alot. you have made a grandfather very happy man today
carlos : this year a 62 years old grandfather tries a ferrari and wins the dakar
— hez ⭐️ (@norsainzzfairy) December 17, 2024
As the video revealed, this was the first time Sainz Sr. was strapped into an F1 car. Although he is a two-time champion in Rallying, he needed to get in tune with F1 machinery before he could run laps with his son on track. And Sainz Sr is a quick learner!
Sainz Sr explains the difference between Dakar and F1
At the beginning of the video, the 62-year-old explained that the two racing disciplines of Dakar and F1 couldn’t be more different. And after his first session in an F1 car, the former Subaru driver narrowed it down to the feel of the steering.
Speaking to his son after the laps, he explained that one of the biggest feedbacks he could give was that an F1 car’s steering is very direct. Even the smallest directional changes really put the front-end bite into the tires.
All in all, Sainz Sr did impress the crew at Ferrari. Despite some early challenges with braking and hitting anti-stall, the 62-year-old put in a solid performance in SF-24 before an emotional victory lap with his son.
