Carlos Sainz during the Hungarian Grand Prix - Photo: RacePictures

Sainz names rally among top 3 life experiences after Dakar car testing

12:03, 02 Oct

Updated: 12:10, 02 Oct

bySamson Ero

Carlos Sainz has reacted after his maiden taste of rally cars. The Formula 1 driver identified it as one of the best three experiences of his life.

“I didn't expect it to be so rough, so wild, so fast. Best experience.”

- Carlos Sainz

The Williams Racing driver, who drove alongside his father in the Ford Raptor T1+ rally car, detailed how he enjoyed the experience. Sainz also admitted to being one of the best race cars he has ever driven.

“The car gives you so much confidence, and it's so good over the bumps. Even on the road, I expected it to be lazy, which I understand, it’s not a rally car, but still, you manage to have a lot of fun. I loved it. It's so much fun. So much better driving than co-driving,” he said via his latest episode of his Don't Blink update on YouTube.

“The car is amazing. It's one of the best race cars I've ever driven. It gives you a lot of confidence. It's almost asking you to push more, which for me is good.”

Sainz on how he felt driving his father’s rally car

Carlos Sainz also weighed in on the experience of driving a rally car. The 31-year-old labelled the experience among the best of his career so far. Sharing his thoughts, he continued:

“Something I've never done in my life. I didn't expect it. I didn't expect it to be so rough, so wild, so fast. Best experience, top two, top three best experiences in my life. There's trying an F1 car for the first time, and then there’s this. It shows how impressive these cars are, and how impressive my dad is at driving.”

“He's a monster. He's completely mad. The fact that he still does this at 63 amazes me. That's what I was thinking, like, why are you doing this? Why are you still doing this?”

In 2024, Sainz's father, Carlos Sainz Snr, also drove a Formula 1 car - the Ferrari F1-75 in a special farewell event for his son following the conclusion of his stint at the Maranello-based outfit.

GPblog paddock update

Ensure to stay up to date with our paddock update. Follow and subscribe to our YouTube channel and never miss a comment from our updates. Check out the latest edition of the update here 👇