Carlos Sainz: How did F1 star react to initial Ferrari approach?
Carlos Sainz: Expert discusses decision by Ferrari
Carlos Sainz replaces Sebastian Vettel for Ferrari in 2021, with the four-time world champion heading to Aston Martin. Charles Leclerc retains his seat as the Scuderia begin a new era following a poor season in 2020. Sainz comes on board after a fine season with McLaren.
The Spaniard secured one podium place last year and collected 105 points to finish sixth in the drivers’ championship.
As he prepared for his switch to Ferrari, he paid tribute the “special bond” he had with McLaren.
“There will always be tough moments, but you can overcome them as long as you get back up and keep fighting,” said Sainz.
“That’s what I’ve done throughout my career and during my time at McLaren, and that’s why I share so many great memories with everyone in the team.
“Every time there has been a difficult moment, together we’ve come back stronger.
“It’s created a special bond between us and it’s a bond that will never be broken.”
How did Carlos Sainz react to Ferrari approach?
Sainz said he went into initial talks “without trying to believe it too much” as he expected Ferrari to be speaking to lots of drivers.
His move was announced in May last year, before the 2020 season had even begun.
Sainz told Autosport: “The first time we got in contact, you can imagine, you go into it without trying to believe it too much.
“[You’re thinking] they must just be talking to all the drivers. So I tried to be very relaxed about it.
“I tried to keep my focus always on the present. But during the lockdown, there was nothing to do.
“There was not a lot to think about, so I started to get a bit more interested and a bit more keen.
DON’T MISS…
Lewis Hamilton contract: Will new Mercedes deal be announced soon?
Max Verstappen: What do former team-mates think of the Red Bull star?
Daniel Ricciardo: Was Renault spell a success as F1 ace joins McLaren?
“All of a sudden, everything started happening very quickly during that period of time.”
Sainz’s announcement also came just 48 hours after it was confirmed Vettel would be leaving at the end of the season.
The Spaniard, though, felt prepared for the attention that surrounds Ferrari when the campaign eventually got underway in Austria.
“When you sign for Ferrari, you know what’s coming, all the media attention,” he said.
“It was in the middle of lockdown, and I knew that going into Austria, a lot of questions were going to be asked.
“It’s a period of time that you know you’re going to get a lot of media attention, especially in Spain.
“I don’t think many people in Spain expected Carlos Sainz to be part of Ferrari maybe one or two years ago. So it got quite big at the time.
“But it very quickly went away. We managed together with McLaren to make sure there were not a lot of stories developing, just focusing on the present.
“We didn’t want the stories being generated and we wanted to focus on a very important year that we had. I think it worked really well.
“The relationship with McLaren has always been very open and very relaxed. So never really got to feel a lot of pressure, a lot of weight on my shoulders.”
Source: Read Full Article