Ferrari star Carlos Sainz recalls Max Verstappen ‘confrontation’

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Carlos Sainz always felt both he and Max Verstappen would go on to win multiple F1 races in their careers after the Spaniard was “confronted” with the then 17-year-old back in 2015. Both Sainz and Verstappen were part of Red Bull’s junior programme when they made their first step into F1 together seven years ago.

Red Bull’s junior team had already produced big successes in the past with Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel making their step into F1 through the development program. Sainz was snapped up early in his racing career back in 2010 at the age of just 16 before making a name for himself in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series.

Meanwhile, Verstappen was labelled a wonderkid coming into F1 having blown his competition away in the juniors and breaking records during his one and only season in F3. Red Bull eventually moved both youngsters up to their sister team in F1 at Toro Rosso for the 2015 season.

Helmut Marko has since described the relationship between the pair during their time together at Toro Rosso as toxic with Verstappen coming out on top in the intra-team battle. Verstappen took a seat at Red Bull the following year while Sainz left the stable altogether towards the end of 2017.

Now both drivers have come full circle in their careers and are regularly battling at the front of the grid. And Sainz has admitted he always knew both he and Verstappen would eventually find themselves in a position to fight for race wins.

“In terms of pure conviction, I honestly have had it since my debut in 2015,” he told Motorsport.com. “When I confronted Max in Toro Rosso I thought we would have a future in the sport, and I was willing to bet that we would both win races.”

Verstappen has gone on to establish himself as one of F1’s greatest ever drivers and already has 32 race wins to his name.

Sainz so far has just the one victory which he claimed at this year’s British Grand Prix. But while the 28-year-old admits the win at Silverstone got the monkey off his back, he adds that it never truly played on his mind.

“What I’m going to say is probably a bit of a cliche, but I’ve always believed that I have the qualities necessary to win a race,” Sainz added. “I believe that when I’m on a good day I can be better than anyone else, and my goal is to be on my good day as much as possible.

“I don’t think winning at Silverstone gave me such a special feeling, but I can say it solved a… problem for me. Before that day I often heard the usual question: ‘when will the first victory come?’

“From the media, from fans, from my family or friends, it was a bit of a catchphrase. Now I don’t have to answer this question anymore, and it’s the only real change since Silverstone!”

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