Why Sainz feels no fear joining Ferrari

As Carlos Sainz Jr sat in the McLaren garage following his failure to start the Belgian Grand Prix and watched the race unfold, a part of him must have been thinking ahead to 2021. He had a rare opportunity to watch a Formula 1 race in full without taking part himself, after being sidelined by a power-unit issue that caused an exhaust failure en route to the grid.

But the race did not make for very pretty watching. Not from a McLaren perspective, of course. Lando Norris recovered from an off-track moment at the start to finish seventh, helping lift the team to third place in the constructors' championship. Instead it was Sainz's future team, Ferrari, whose display made for grim viewing. Amid an already difficult 2020, Spa marked a new low as it spent a total of five laps running with a car in the points. Sebastian Vettel led home Charles Leclerc in 13th and 14th, leaving the team facing questions about the crisis.

Ferrari itself says there is no "crisis", but instead a "storm". Yet the storm is one that will continue to batter and howl at the Prancing Horse for the foreseeable future, given that the flawed SF1000 will race again next year.

As questions continue to be asked of Ferrari, a few are also starting to be put Sainz's way. He's leaving the team with which he has just scored his second F1 podium in the Italian Grand Prix, one that has been on an upward trajectory since his arrival, for the team in sixth that has suffered a mighty fall. Even F1 bigwig and former Ferrari technical chief Ross Brawn said after the race in Belgium that he thought Sainz may be feeling "nervous" about his move. So is there reason for Sainz to fear he has made a mistake?

"No, there's no fear whatsoever on the future for me," he says. "I find Ferrari a great opportunity to do another move in my career which allows me to drive for a great team. I have a two-year contract signed with them, which also gives me the opportunity to build on a year and on the experience. It's going to be a great challenge. And we still don't know where Ferrari is going to be in 2021."

Sainz is correct: we don't know for certain where Ferrari will be next year. Engine development is frozen until the end of this season, after which point it has an opportunity to try to claw back some of the deficit with its current power unit. But the limited scope for development on the chassis means it is unlikely to do much more than fight for top midfield honours next year, without accounting for any advances made by the teams it now finds itself battling.

Yet Sainz is looking longer-term. As he mentioned, his two-year deal ensures he will be at Maranello when the new technical regulations come into play in 2022. "Everyone sees that as an opportunity to change the Formula 1 that we have seen since 2014," Sainz says. "It's the last eight years, we've seen Mercedes domination. Everyone sees 2022 as a big opportunity, and I'm sure Ferrari sees the same."

The rise of Sainz has been one of the feel-good stories in F1. A little over two years ago, he wasn't the first-choice driver for Red Bull, Renault or even McLaren. But his performances with the British team were enough to convince Ferrari that it was not even worth talking to four-time world champion Vettel about a new deal, snapping Sainz up instead. Many drivers are subject to interest from Ferrari, but only a few get to don the famous red overalls. It's a significant career moment for any driver.

But the move also provides a narrative that no other driver currently in F1 can match, as Sainz will have driven in consecutive years for the two teams that defined the sport for him in his formative years: McLaren and Ferrari. "You need to remember that when I was growing up, there was this huge battle between McLaren and Ferrari in 2007 and 2008," he reflects. "I think it's the golden era, the years that I've enjoyed the most watching Formula 1. For me to have the opportunity to drive for those teams in the next two years, it's just something very special. The opportunity to drive for those two teams that were so successful in those years where I was such a big fan of Formula 1 makes me very, very proud."

There's also the matter of driving for F1's most famous team, something Sainz acknowledges played a role in his decision. "The move to Ferrari is not only performance-driven," he says. "It's obviously the spirit. Being a Ferrari driver is a target in every racing driver's mind, and I'm going to achieve that next year. I am not worried about it. It's still something super-special."

"I seriously don't have any problem answering Ferrari questions. I've answered them a lot now, and I think you know my answers by now and what I'm constantly saying! The more you ask me, it's not like I'm going to change my answer much" Carlos Sainz Jr

One of the leading figures through Sainz's "golden era" was Fernando Alonso. Images of Sainz as a kid first meeting Alonso - his racing hero - have been shared widely over the years, especially in the wake of his move to McLaren, when he took over the seat of the two-time world champion. Sainz's McLaren story has been significantly more positive than Alonso's, but there are some more fitting comparisons between the pair. Both started their F1 careers at Faenza - Alonso at Minardi, Sainz at Toro Rosso - before joining Renault. They each moved on to McLaren, before joining Ferrari, albeit after a second Renault stint for Alonso.

Things did not work out for Alonso during his five seasons with Ferrari as he fell short of the title and fell out with the team. But he is yet to share any pearls of wisdom with Sainz about what to expect from life at Maranello - although Sainz has also not opened up about Renault, where he raced from late 2017 until the end of 2018. "I haven't talked to him yet," says Sainz. "I shared a message just to welcome him back into F1, but I haven't really got in touch to talk about Ferrari or to talk about Renault. I'm sure he would also be interested to know my experience with Renault. What we need is some sort of dinner together or to see each other again - we haven't seen each other for more than half a year."

Sainz will be seeing a lot of Alonso next year when the 39-year-old makes his F1 comeback with Renault, perhaps even scrapping for the same bit of track. It provides a welcome boost for Spanish interest in F1. The grand prix was saved at the last minute for 2020, provisionally on a one-year deal before the COVID-19 pandemic that now means it's likely to stay on the calendar in 2021. But with two Spanish drivers in major teams, Sainz thinks the future looks "great" for F1 in his country.

"You have Fernando in the team where he became a two-time world champion, you have me at Ferrari - I think for Spain it's going to be huge next year in Formula 1," Sainz says. "Hopefully that can get everything back in the right route to keep the Spanish Grand Prix. I'm a big fan of that circuit and the fans there. We just hope that we can keep making Formula 1 bigger and bigger in Spain."

As seen with the 'Alonsomania' boom in Spain through the mid-2000s, the easiest way to stimulate interest is via a driver's success. Fighting for wins and championships will be the natural aspiration for Sainz upon joining Ferrari, and the team will have its own high expectations. But would that ambition give Sainz the opportunity to be team leader and fight for wins and championships? Or does he risk becoming a number two at Ferrari, playing second fiddle to Leclerc?

Designating team roles is something Ferrari has traditionally done, most successfully with Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello in the early 2000s. The challenges posed by its drivers competing with each other burned Ferrari last year, most notably in Brazil, when Leclerc and Vettel crashed out together, and may have played a part in the decision to part company with the German.

Sainz has always made it clear that he's not viewing the move to Ferrari as one where he will take up a wingman role to Leclerc. He will be joining the team as the more experienced head, entering his seventh season in F1, and gets on with Leclerc. "Even before this Ferrari thing happened, I already had an excellent relationship with him, and I'm looking forward to keep building on it," he points out. "We're near in age, we're near in hobbies and in the way we get on with each other. We get on very well."

It has the makings of a harmonious partnership, but will take some work to reach the levels of bromance enjoyed between Sainz and current McLaren team-mate Lando Norris. Even Sainz acknowledges his relationship with Norris is "pretty special", but adds: "Hopefully I will not miss Lando too much, because Charles is a good bloke."

Questions about his move and what role he will play in the team with Leclerc have become bread-and-butter for Sainz since it was announced. But he finds it hard to properly put his mind to what 2021 will be like, such is his focus on his final season with McLaren.

"I seriously don't have any problem answering Ferrari questions," Sainz reflects. "I've answered them a lot now, and I think you know my answers by now and what I'm constantly saying! The more you ask me, it's not like I'm going to change my answer much.

"My brain is not thinking about Ferrari. I'm thinking about how can I do a good qualifying tomorrow, whether it rains, whether it's dry - my brain is fully focused on McLaren and how to make this car faster. I want to get podiums, I want to get the best results possible with McLaren. When you ask me about Ferrari, I need to really think about it, because I'm actually not thinking about that for a while."

The relentless interrogation Sainz faces is perhaps a taste of things to come. The Italian media is hardly known for its subtlety when it comes to all things Ferrari, especially in times of difficulty. With greater scrutiny on the cards next year, is there reason for Sainz to be worried? "No, I'm not scared," he says. "I'm Latin. Spanish people have the Latin spirit, and we are very driven sometimes. It's something that I really don't worry about. Journalists, interviews, it's something that I've been doing for six years in Formula 1, and it's nothing that worries me."

Sainz is eager to maintain some of the tried-and-tested approach that made his move to McLaren in 2019 such a success. He upped sticks from Spain and moved to Weybridge in Surrey - even though he already had a place in Chelsea - so he could be as close as possible to the McLaren factory.

He's already working on plans to move near Maranello in the hope of fostering a similarly close connection to his new team.

"Obviously I want to see Ferrari also at the top, but I wouldn't mind fighting for wins or for championships against McLaren in the next two or three years. I believe there are incredible people here at McLaren" Carlos Sainz Jr

"It's very likely I will move there," he says. "It has worked really well for me at McLaren and has allowed me, especially in the first year at a team with new engineers, mechanics, team-mate, to get engagement very quickly with the team and build relationships very quickly."

It's those relationships that will ultimately determine how much of a success Sainz is at Ferrari, evidenced by the strong partnerships he's made at McLaren. Even putting the friendship with Norris to one side, the way Sainz interacts with his engineers, his PRs, all those working around him has been positive to see. And it extends to senior management. From the moment Ferrari got in touch over the winter about the possibility of a drive for 2021, Sainz felt comfortable enough to talk to McLaren bosses Andreas Seidl and Zak Brown about it.

They were aware of the situation throughout - a rare level of openness between driver and team. That's continued even since Sainz's departure was announced. The carryover of the 2020 cars into next year means there is less of a need to freeze a driver out of meetings and keep plans secret, but at no point has he felt isolated or excluded because of his decision to move on.

"They've told me pretty much everything," he says. "I've even been in the simulator a couple of times doing tests for the end of the year, even tests that could correlate for 2021 on the car, and I've been helping the team as much as I can. I think we both benefit from that. I have a contract with McLaren until the end of the year, and I'm very happy to help. They know that, and so far the behaviour from both parts has been excellent. In the same way it was excellent during the contract negotiations, it's been excellent now. I really want to see this team moving forward still."

Sainz may be leaving McLaren before the team can truly say its rebuild has been completed, but he still hopes to see it back fighting at the front, thanks in part to his contribution.

"I'd be the first one to be happy to see McLaren fighting at the top in the future," says Sainz. "Obviously I want to see Ferrari also at the top, but I wouldn't mind fighting for wins or for championships against McLaren in the next two or three years. I believe there are incredible people here at McLaren. They are doing a great job in building the team forward, and building a great atmosphere that is helping every single team member to feel important and a great part of this family."

To see how Sainz fares in the often-politicised Ferrari environment will be one of the big storylines in 2021. He's one of just three drivers on the F1 grid to have made it out of the Red Bull junior programme unscathed, and has helped turn around a team from sluggish backmarkers to midfield leaders in no time.

His path from Faenza to Maranello may have been an arduous one at times, but it's all good preparation for the opportunity that will likely define his F1 career.