Ep. 10: The last in red
A final chapter at Ferrari concludes this year. A 2024 still in red, where Carlos Sainz will give his best, both on and off the track. As always.
Photo © Scuderia Ferrari
To fall and rise, to start from scratch, are experiences that Carlos Sainz deeply knows. With a childhood overshadowed by a two-time Rally world champion, his father, who at 61, after once again defying the extreme conditions of the desert, has just conquered his fourth Dakar Rally, the most demanding race in the world. Perhaps this was the first step that the Formula 1 driver has already managed to overcome: to trace his own path under the same name as his greatest reference, his idol, without living in the shadow of the family head, but without forgetting the lessons he was taught. Fighting until the end, not giving up, and always keeping his head held high are already his distinctive hallmarks.
Blue Red Bull, yellow Renault, papaya McLaren... Carlos's career has been a multicoloured palette. He has gone through many teams, teammates, situations, and challenges, but the Spanish driver, with his characteristic seriousness, has known how to adapt and make every moment his own, leaving his mark wherever he goes. At McLaren, his home for two years, Andrea Stella still attributes much of the team's success to the commitment and dedication of Carlos and his team of engineers at the MTC, who worked relentlessly to get the best out of the car, the team and himself.
In 2021, every driver's dream came true: driving for Ferrari. Carlos' experience in Maranello and around the world with his red car has been discreet but steady. With the team, he scored his first victory in the top category at Silverstone in 2022, and a year later at Monza he tried to convince the still sceptical tifosi with a pole position and a podium that shook the temple of speed. Shortly afterwards, in Singapore, he added a touch of red to a calendar that would have been all blue, and brought a smile back to a team that had forgotten what it meant to win.
Carlos made his way at Ferrari, but it wasn't enough to stop the force of a seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, who seeks to crown his career, his dream, by occupying the space that it seemed the Spanish had already earned. Formula 1 can be cruel, relentless, and sometimes lacking in empathy, as the media and many of his followers barely realized that this would be the last year of the driver at the most iconic and successful team in the world.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me, really."
While we all continue to reflect on the decision, fair or unfair, this is Carlos's only response, from a driver who looks forward and sees only the future. A future that also takes him to the past, to his childhood, where his dream was born and where he knows many other boys and girls will begin to pursue theirs. Carlos Sainz speaks calmly as he launches his karting academy and strives to overcome and always improve on his previous version. He doesn't need words, and although his dark eyes may seem sad, he only thinks about what is to come.
Carlos is silence, he is elegance. A man who reserves his words and demonstrates through actions. He directs his attention to those who truly appreciate his effort, communicating precisely at crucial moments and challenges criticism with determination and focuses on his constant evolution, always aspiring to be the best. Because the things that truly matter are always the hardest to achieve.
The number 55 may change colour, box, but it will always be the number of a limitless driver who this year will write the last chapter at Ferrari, in red, brighter and more intense than ever.
Because if it weren't so, he wouldn't be Carlos Sainz.
Photo © Scuderia Ferrari
