“It’s Impressive How It Accelerates”: Carlos Sainz Sr After Driving a Lap in Ferrari’s SF-24

Carlos Sainz Sr, dad of Carlos Sainz of Spain and Ferrari gestured, Gesture, Qualifying, F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi

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!”

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.

Post Edited By: Dhruv Rupani
carlos sainz Carlos Sainz Sr. ferrari

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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