Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in a hurry for Formula One success

SINGAPORE – Twice, Carlos Sainz asked politely “Are we ready?” as The Straits Times was setting up for an interview at the Marina Bay Sands’ Paiza Sky Residence on Sept 18.

The Ferrari driver is known as one of the nicest guys on the Formula One circuit, but these days he is also in a huge hurry. There is a padel game waiting for him in the evening, and this weekend, the

defending champion of the Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix

has a race to win.

Precision timing, physical and race management are what he counts as his strengths on the track, attributes that helped him clinch victory here in 2023, when he started from pole and pitted just once for his second career race win.

A similar strategy could work this year as he celebrates his 200th F1 start this weekend.

He said: “I know what it takes to win around here. I know all the tricks. I know everything I have to do to win, so I just need to try and repeat it.

“(The challenge is) doing a full qualifying lap and putting the lap together on one of the toughest tracks. The tyres tend to struggle a lot through the lap with the heat, and the heat is also tough for the driver. It’s a long race – two hours – and it takes physical fitness and concentration.”

To prepare for the Singapore GP, Sainz started cycling two to four days a week and spent another two to three days on strength training in sunny Mallorca in August to replicate Singapore’s heat and humidity.

He explained: “I try to adapt it to the conditions and the circuit that I’m going. Riding the bike at 35-36 deg C has prepared me well for Singapore, as well as keeping a good level of muscle fitness, flexibility and mobility to deal with the travelling and body degrading as the season goes on and we travel so much.”

Even on two wheels, Sainz is fiercely competitive as he races his friends uphill and they “push flat out for 20 to 30 minutes”.

Despite his competitive nature, he finds it easy to work with Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc and make sacrifices for the team when necessary. At the Italian GP on Sept 1, he helped the Monegasque win the race by holding up McLaren’s Oscar Piastri before finishing fourth himself.

He said: “We’ve built a very strong relationship over these four years... and we’ve managed to keep a very mature relationship, being very competitive and very successful as we brought Ferrari a lot of good points and good race victories.

For the 30-year-old, it is all about being true to himself, though competing in the high-octane world that is F1, things can change in the blink of an eye.

After four seasons with Ferrari, he found himself in the job market after the Italian team

signed seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton for the 2025 season.

Still, he conducted himself professionally and won the Australian GP in March, just 16 days after surgery for appendicitis. In July, he inked a deal with Williams for next season.

Heading into his 200th start in the sport – he has three race wins with Ferrari – Sainz noted that his 199th

at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sept 15

was one to forget. A collision with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in the penultimate lap ended both drivers’ races.

He said: “You learn first of all that this sport can be brutal. You do 49 laps clean with good racing, and then suddenly a small misjudgment can mean that you are out of the race, zero points and a devastating result for me and the team.”

He is confident about back-to-back titles in Singapore and is aiming to help the third-placed Prancing Horse (425 points) come out tops in a three-horse race with McLaren (476) and Red Bull (456). After that, he will turn his attention to bringing back the glory days at storied racing team Williams.

The Madrid native also wants his name on a shiny world championship trophy.

He added: “I have full trust that I have every attribute I need to be world champion, and if one day they give me the right car, at the right place at the right time, I’m going to be able to win it.”

And Sainz is clearly still in a hurry, adding: “I wish to become a world champion soon.”