Carlos Sainz was born into a motorsports family, with his father being a two-time WRC Driver’s Champion. But that isn’t why he drew closer to F1. Instead, it was three drivers whom he closely followed in the early 2000s, which made him fall in love with the sport.
The Spaniard used to watch battles between Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, and Kimi Raikkonen – all of whom he described as his idols. He said,
“Watching Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen battle back in the 2000s. The golden era was incredible for Formula 1.”
Carlos about wanting to become an F1 driver:
“When I was a kid, there was no more rallying on television. My dad had retired and we watched F1, my idol Alonso won the World Championship, and there was Schumacher and Raikkonen.”#CarlosSainz | #F1 pic.twitter.com/bEicJ0BKvY
— Carlos Sainz News (@CSainzNews_) March 2, 2024
Schumacher won five consecutive Titles between 1999 and 2004, after which Alonso took over the baton, emerging victorious in 2005 and 2006. Raikkonen capped this ‘era’ off by winning in 2007, becoming Ferrari’s last Drivers’ Championship in the process.
However, the number of individual trophies these drivers won, doesn’t justify how close the rivalry was. Sainz was mesmerized by their driving and got to share the grid with one of his idols Alonso in the years to follow.
Alonso went from being Sainz’s idol to rival
Alonso, despite being 42 years old, is still going strong in F1. He is the most experienced driver on the grid and recently signed another multi-year contract with Aston Martin.
This means Sainz will get to share a few more years with his idol and compete alongside him on the track. The senior Spaniard, however, does not have small ambitions. Even after all his years in the sport, Alonso still dreams of achieving a third World Driver’s Title, which would explain why he chose to remain with Aston Martin for a couple more years.
Meanwhile, Sainz spent the last four years racing for Ferrari. But, he will have to take a step back from his World Title ambitions, at least for the moment. Starting next season, he’ll partner Alex Albon at Williams, and considering the current status of the team, it’ll be a while before Sainz gets the opportunity to fight for a title in capable machinery again.
