Carlos Sainz Sr · Biography

In 1989, Carlos Sainz Cenamor (Madrid, 12 April 1962) signed for Toyota to contest the World Rally Championship in a Celica, with Luis Moya as his co-driver. The move turned the driver who had dominated the Spanish championship into a world title contender, and he won the title the following year. He was world champion in 1990 and 1992 and took 26 WRC victories. Later, in rally raids, he won the Dakar Rally in 2010, 2018, 2020 and 2024. He is the father of Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr.

Early years in Spain

He made his debut in December 1980 at the Rally Shalymar, driving a Renault 5 TS with Juanjo Lacalle alongside him. In 1981 he won the Copa Nacional Seat Panda, and by 1982 he was a works Seat driver. He raced for Renault between 1983 and 1986, and in 1984 he drove an Opel at the Rally Cataluña. The decisive step came with Ford. Driving a Sierra RS Cosworth, he won the Spanish championship in 1987 with Antonio Boto as co-driver and took the title again in 1988 with Luis Moya, who would sit beside him throughout his world championship years. In 1987 he also contested his first World Championship event, the Rally de Portugal, where he retired.

Toyota and two world titles

His first world championship win came at the 1990 Acropolis Rally, and that same year he took the title in the Toyota Celica. In 1991 he lost the title at the final round, which Juha Kankkunen won ahead of him. In 1992 he became world champion again with Toyota. That year, 440 Celica GT-Four ST185s bearing his name were sold in the United Kingdom. He was the first non-Nordic driver to win the Rally of Finland. Over his career he won three times in Monte Carlo, three times at the Acropolis and once at the Safari.

Lancia, Subaru and Ford

He drove for Lancia in 1993 before moving to Subaru in 1994, finishing that season as runner-up behind Didier Auriol. In 1995 he went into the final round, the RAC Rally in Britain, level on points with team-mate Colin McRae. McRae won the event and the title. From 1996 to 1997 he drove for Ford, and in 1997 he also won the Race of Champions.

Back at Toyota and the final WRC years

He returned to Toyota in 1998 and lost that year’s title in the cruellest way. At Rally GB, the final round, Tommi Mäkinen retired on the first day, so fourth place would have been enough for Sainz. About 300 metres from the finish of the last stage, a mechanical failure forced him out, and the title went to Mäkinen. He stayed with Toyota in 1999 and returned to Ford from 2000 to 2002. He joined Citroën in 2003, winning the Rally of Turkey that year. His last world championship win came at the 2004 Rally Argentina. In October 2004 he announced that he would stop contesting the full championship, and in 2005 he made two appearances for Citroën, in Greece and Turkey. He ended his WRC career with 196 rallies, 26 wins, 97 podiums and 1,242 points.

The Dakar

He made his Dakar Rally debut in 2006 with Volkswagen. In 2010 he won it in the Race Touareg, with Lucas Cruz as co-driver, ahead of team-mate Nasser Al-Attiyah. He finished third in 2011 and went on to race for Demon Jefferies in 2013, SMG in 2014 and Peugeot from 2015. In 2018 he won his second Dakar in the Peugeot 3008 DKR Maxi, more than 43 minutes ahead of Al-Attiyah. With Mini he won in 2020, driving the John Cooper Works Buggy, just over six minutes clear of the Qatari, and he was third in 2021. He drove for Audi from 2022 to 2024. In 2024 he won in the RS Q e-tron, the first Dakar victory for an electrified car, ahead of Guillaume de Mevius and Sébastien Loeb. The win made him the first driver to take the Dakar with four different manufacturers and the oldest winner in the event’s records. Lucas Cruz was his co-driver for fourteen editions of the Dakar.

Honours and the Ford years

In 2001 he received the Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit, and in 2020 the Princess of Asturias Award for Sports. In 2025 he contested his first Dakar in the Ford Raptor. He rolled at kilometre 327 of the 48-hour second stage, damaging the roll cage. The stewards ruled that the damage could not be repaired, and Ford withdrew the car. In 2026 he finished fifth in the Raptor, 28 minutes and 30 seconds behind Al-Attiyah, after a navigation error on the marathon stage.