F1 career Sainz | Not good enough for Red Bull, but strong at Ferrari

It's finally been confirmed. Carlos Sainz will continue to race for Ferrari. The Spaniard had a long road, but now he seems to belong to the top drivers in Formula 1. GBblog.com looks back on the turbulent F1 career of Sainz.

Teammate of Verstappen

Sainz made his debut in Formula 1 in 2015 at Toro Rosso as a teammate of Max Verstappen. When he entered F1, he was already 1-0 down at Toro Rosso. Indeed, most eyes were on the then only seventeen-year-old Verstappen. Despite that, Sainz did his thing and scored points regularly with the United States GP as a highlight, where he finished in a neat seventh place.

In 2016 Sainz would once again be Verstappen's teammate at Toro Rosso, but after four races this changed. A disappointing Daniil Kvyat was transferred back to Toro Rosso after the Russian Grand Prix and it was the very young Verstappen who made the move to Red Bull Racing. Once again Sainz focused on his own performance and he consequently drove a stronger season than in 2015.

No podiums at Renault

Sainz also stayed at Toro Rosso in 2017, to some dissatisfaction of the Spaniard. Therefore, a deal was struck with Renault towards the end of the season. The French were not satisfied with the services of Jolyon Palmer and were able to rent Sainz from Red Bull. Sainz also appeared for Renault in 2018, but after four full seasons, the Spaniard still did not have a podium finish behind his name.

The bromance with Norris at McLaren

After 2018, Sainz, who was no longer part of Red Bull, swapped Renault for McLaren. At Red Bull, Sainz never got the chance he hoped to get, so he chose to go his own way. McLaren had been on the rise for some time at that point, and in 2019 the team was driving Renault engines for the second year. He came to drive alongside rookie Lando Norris. The two did well on the track and became very good friends off the track. Sainz had his best year in Formula 1 up to that point and in the second-to-last race, he finally got his first F1 podium in Brazil. Unfortunately for Sainz, he only heard about this after the podium ceremony, because Lewis Hamilton received another penalty after the race.

In 2020, Sainz was supposed to race for McLaren again, but even before the coronavirus season started, the Madrid native already knew that he would drive for Ferrari in 2021. Meanwhile, he made the most of his second and final McLaren season. In Italy, he even came close to his first victory, but an unleashed Pierre Gasly was just a size too big.

Established driver at Ferrari

After many detours, Sainz finally joined a top team, although Ferrari was not yet one in 2021. Sainz did manage to score several podiums and lay a solid foundation with Ferrari for a strong car in 2022. Sainz got 2022 off to an excellent start with two podiums in the first two races. Despite a dropout in Australia, Ferrari's confidence in Sainz is good, earning him a contract extension. It now seems only a matter of time before we see the Spaniard on the top step of the podium.