Carlos Sainz Júnior · Biography

The first title of Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro came in karting in 2008, when he won the Asia-Pacific KF3 championship. He was born in Madrid on 1 September 1994, the son of Carlos Sainz, two-time world rally champion. He followed him into motorsport by a different route, circuit racing. He reached Formula One in 2015 and has driven for Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren, Ferrari and Williams.

Karting and the Red Bull programme

Sainz started karting in 2006. After the Asia-Pacific KF3 crown in 2008, he won the Junior Monaco Kart Cup in 2009. In 2010 he joined the Red Bull Junior Team and moved up to single-seaters. He finished fourth in Formula BMW Europe with EuroInternational. In the same year he made guest appearances in Formula BMW Pacific, where he took two wins and three pole positions in nine races but was not eligible for points.

From Formula Renault to the World Series title

In 2011 he won the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC title with Koiranen and was runner-up in the Eurocup. In 2012 he moved to Formula 3 with Carlin, finishing sixth in British F3 and ninth in the Euro Series. In 2013 he raced in GP3 with MW Arden, placing tenth overall, and also started racing in Formula Renault 3.5. In his first full season in that category, with DAMS in 2014, he took the Formula Renault 3.5 championship. That title earned him a Formula One seat.

Toro Rosso and Renault

Sainz made his Formula One debut at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix with Toro Rosso. His team-mate was Max Verstappen, another Red Bull junior. He finished ninth and scored points first time out. He ended that season 15th with 18 points and improved to 12th with 46 points in 2016. Partway through 2017 he left Red Bull’s structure and joined Renault from the United States Grand Prix, replacing Jolyon Palmer. He finished the year ninth with 54 points. He spent the whole of 2018 with Renault and placed tenth in the standings with 53 points.

McLaren

In 2019 he moved to McLaren. He took his first Formula One podium at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, where he was classified third after a penalty for Lewis Hamilton. He finished sixth in the championship with 96 points. In 2020 he finished second at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and repeated sixth place in the standings, this time with 105 points.

Ferrari

Ferrari signed him for 2021 to replace Sebastian Vettel. He scored his first podium with the Italian team at Monaco that season and finished fifth overall with 164.5 points. At the 2022 British Grand Prix at Silverstone he took his first pole position and first victory in Formula One. He was fifth again that year with 246 points. In 2023 he won the Singapore Grand Prix and placed seventh with 200 points. In March 2024 appendicitis forced him out of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after the first two practice sessions, and Oliver Bearman took his seat. He came back at the next race, the Australian Grand Prix, and won it. He also won the Mexico City Grand Prix that year and finished fifth with 290 points, his highest total. Lewis Hamilton replaced him at Ferrari for 2025.

Williams

In 2025 Sainz joined Williams alongside Alexander Albon. That February he was also appointed a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association. He gave the British team a podium with third place at the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and another third place at the Qatar Grand Prix later that year. He finished the 2025 championship ninth with 64 points.