Carlos Sainz: ready to win with Ferrari

This episode is sponsored by Honda. Since its first Formula One victory in the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix, Honda has always taken what's learned on the track and used it to build better cars for everyone. From pushing limits in F1 to engineering the next generation of hybrids like the Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid, Honda proves that racing doesn't just inspire innovation, it drives it.

And that idea of taking lessons from the racetrack and applying them to road cars has always been a part of Honda's DNA. Decades of engineering in the demanding world of Formula One have helped shape the performance and efficiency you see in Honda's road cars today. And now that same thinking is shaping the next generation of hybrids as well. Cars like the 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Hybrid show that electrification can be both efficient and genuinely fun to drive.

The 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid are engineered for fun. From the racetrack to your driveway. Learn more about the Prelude and Civic and the latest innovations at Honda.com. Flyter på och bilen går bra. stötter på oväntade hinder längs. Trighansa. konsumenternas.

Welcome to F1B on the Grid, where Formula One's fastest stars slow down and open up. You've seen them race? You've seen them on screen, but this is where you truly get to know them. You'll hear untold stories, personal memories, and unrivaled insight from the drivers, team bosses, and brilliant brains. that make Formula One so amazing and fascinating. I'm Tom Clarkson, it's season five, and our first guest of 2022 is Ferraris Carlos Sainz.

My dream in Formula 1 that is to win first a race, obviously then a championship, but to win a championship you need to win a race. I will keep chasing that. I'm not saying it will happen, but it's what I wake up every morning or what I go to sleep with in my my head every day. Is this the year that Carlos Sainz's dreams come true?

He could be on the brink of something very special. In 2021, his first season with Ferrari, he outscored his teammate Charles Leclerc and finished a career best fifth in the Drivers' Championship. He's proved he's among the very best on the grid, and as he says himself, he's ready for more.

2022 is the start of a new era in Formula One, and could it be a new dawn for its most famous team? If Ferrari can rejoin the fight at the front, can Carlos end their long wait for a race win and a world title? We sat down to record this chat during the preseason test in Bahrain. We were adjacent to the Ferrari garage where the mechanics were getting the car ready for another test run. You'll hear the story of Carlos's unusual negotiations with Ferrari.

and how a multi year contract completely changed his approach to racing. He shares the frustration that he still feels about missing out on victory at the twenty twenty Italian Grand Prix, and how he reassured Daniel Riccardo During the Aussie's struggles at McLaren in 2021. Plus, why he's actually not a smooth operator behind the wheel, the value of an early morning gym session. Add up friendships and his hopes ahead of the 2022 season. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Welcome back to the show. You haven't been on since November 2018. November twenty eighteen. Yeah. It's been a while. How are you? A lot of water under the bridge since then. I guess the podcast also has grown a lot since then. It has, it has. Yeah. We got a lot of new fans. But listen, how how does the twenty seven year old Carlos of today compare to the twenty four year old Carlos of of twenty eighteen?

Well a lot has changed since twenty eighteen. I've had uh two years in McLaren since then. Um and a year in Ferrari, and now I'm about to start my second year in Ferrari so Yeah, actually my my time in in McLaren was really good fun as you guys all know and and now in Ferrari it's a bit of a new life, but uh You say you've changed and evolved as a driver. How so? Well, um, twenty eighteen I was coming off the back of um let's say not an ideal or a bit of a tough year with Renault and um

At that point I was signed by by McLaren and I probably got my two best years in Formal One up to date. Uh so thanks to those Two really good years, or let's say a very good twenty nineteen. Uh I got called by by Ferrari and and I had to leave a team that I really like like McLaren and a team that I felt at home with to move to to a team like Ferrari. So uh yeah, I've just grown in terms of

getting to know two of the best teams, actually the two best teams in Formula One and and having to experience how different two Formula One teams can be and and how I need to adapt to completely two different cars, two different cultures. So as a driver I've gone through a lot in the last let's say three years.

Can you tell us the story?'Cause there'll be some people listening. Who don't know it, of the phone call from Faro. It all started I think now I can say uh at the end of twenty nineteen I had my podium in Brazil then a great season finale in in in Abu Dhabi where I claimed six in the drivers' championship. In Abu Dhabi already my dad had a quick conversation with Matia and we started having our first contact no

Then in twenty twenty the pandemic arrived and we were all in our homes locked up. Um we're talking now about February, so a couple of months later after Abu Dhabi. And yeah, all of a sudden all the negotiations started to take place during COVID lockdown to the point where when it was time to sign my new contract, uh I wake up in an a uh morning at eight o'clock in back at home in the middle of lockdown.

And uh and I go to have some coffee and breakfast and suddenly my dad tells me, Let's go, we need to sign a Ferrari contract and I was still in my pyjamas. And um and I signed my Ferrari contract in my pyjamas in the middle of a lockdown, pandemic lockdown which was completely unusual circumstances and uh very weird, I must say, but uh but it just felt it wasn't real because at the time I didn't know if we were even gonna get

Back racing. You know, we were in the middle, if you guys remember March or April, we were full lockdown. Like we didn't know if normal life was gonna come back. Uh you're still smiling. That memory still puts a smile on your face, doesn't it? It was an intense period because it's not easy to negotiate and to sign a contract in

by it was the time where we all discovered the Zoom calls, no, and uh we did everything by virtual, no? And it's the first time I had experience having to have phone calls like that and it was weird, very weird. But and I still had a full year to do with McLaren in 2020. And was it always on your bucket list? Ferrari, that's a team I I really want to race for.

I'm Spanish. I live very close to Italy. I feel close to the Italian culture because I I grew up in Italy a lot doing all all of my go kart races. Carlos, you're a man of the world. I think you do the English thing quite well as well. What is English? Well just you get on well with English people. It's not just I got a gnarly man. Yeah.

I I I had a really good time in McLaren. Everyone who's been follow following Formula One for the last three years know that I I managed to achieve the best version of myself in McLaren and know that uh

the Carlos that they see today is the Carlos that I managed to grow up into in McLaren. The confidence that McLaren gave me, the support. It was my first two year deal. And there I did a step as a driver. And the the driver that you see now in Ferrari is A lot of it is thanks to to the atmosphere and the people and the way I managed to fill in McLaren and the step that I did there as a racing driver.

How much difference did the multi-year deal make to you? Because it's something that Valtery Bottas talked about on this podcast last year saying The lure of Alfa Romeo was the multi year deal, whereas Toto Wolf at Mercedes had been drip feeding him one year deals and he just said he couldn't he found it so exhausting he wanted something more. I'm glad someone else talks about it, because I didn't know it made a difference, because I've always been...

One year in in Trosso, another year in Toro, another year in Toro, suddenly loaned to Reno without knowing if I was gonna stay in Reno, go back to Red Bull or go back to Toro. I don't I didn't know anything and and this uncertainty, you don't you never think about it when you are in the in the truck or in the car. I had contact with this guy, now my career might depend on making sure that the next race I don't do a mistake again. And that is the mentality, is it, when you're on a one year

When you are in one-year deal, you know you cannot afford bad momentum. You just need to bounce back immediately. So the next race, you have to make sure you don't do a mistake again. But when you are in the mindset of I cannot do a mistake again. Then you're not the same. You're not sure as aggressive as you were. Maybe.

It's not as natural maybe. I I'm trying to brainstorm it. I I've gone through this thinking process me m myself to to see why. But uh I think it makes a difference. While when you're in a two or three year deal you do a mistake, you come back next race, you try again and the overtake works or the quality lab works because you are not scared of maybe not finding back that momentum. Maybe it's me opening up a bit too much, but uh that's it's the way it works.

This episode is sponsored by Honda. Since its first Formula One victory in the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix, Honda has always taken what's learned on the track and used it to build better cars for everyone. From pushing limits in F1 to engineering the next generation of hybrids like the Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid, Honda proves that racing doesn't just inspire innovation, it drives it.

And that idea of taking lessons from the racetrack and applying them to road cars has always been a part of Honda's DNA. Decades of engineering in the demanding world of Formula One have helped shape the performance and efficiency you see in Honda's road cars today. And now that same thinking is shaping the next generation of hybrids as well. Cars like the 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Hybrid show that electrification can be both efficient and genuinely fun to drive.

The 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid are engineered for fun. From the racetrack to your driveway. Learn more about the Prelude and Civic and the latest innovations at Honda.com. Stötter på oväntade hinder längsväg. Högst. konsumenternas. Rätt för livet.

Carlos, can we talk next? about the new cars. How excited are you about the new Formula One? I was excited already before everything started. It's been a an impatient long winter. But after seeing the cars, I'm even more excited because I think no one expected to see so many Formula One cars look so different with such a tight regulations package.

And then you've seen the Mercedes with the tight side pods, you've seen our Ferrari going completely to the other extreme with these massive side pods. Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE, Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE It's this is pure Formula One, no? Completely different ideas to probably get to a very similar lap time. And I think it's the beauty of Formula One and it's an exciting year that we have ahead. It's kind of peak Formula One, isn't it?

You give the same regs to ten different design offices and just get this huge variety. I suppose it'll it will converge, won't it, as we It will, but it's also the beauty of Formula One that we all pick the best handpick the best bits of every car and we try to put it into a same car.

And I guess testing has been a bit different as a result because yes, you're focusing on yourselves. That's what you do in testing, but the temptation to just glance at whatever anyone else is doing must be there, mustn't it?

Of course. And ever anyone who you talk in the bio we tell we try to not look into lap times, we try to focus on ourselves. We are all looking into each other and we are all trying to analyze Where everyone is, we are all looking at GPS data, we are all looking at the sector times at top speed.

We're trying to play down a bit where everyone is and that we don't care that we just want to get on with our program. But the reality is we are competitive animals and we just want to know as soon as possible where everyone is. just because you're impatient, you you want to know where you are. And how different is the challenge of driving this year?

So the first few laps that I did, they were not actually that different compared to other year's car. The speed in the corners feels similar, the weight is a bit higher. But then once I started really pushing it to the limit in the last few days in Barcelona, I I realized that the last two or three tenths of the car might come from from a bit of a different driving style. And this is where you need to go back.

think about where you can find those last two or three times with this car, analyze the data and maybe you need to change a bit your approach, your driving style, the way you brake, the way you turn in. And have you concluded where those areas are, how you're going to extract those last few tenths?

I don't think three half days of testing is enough to conclude it. I've had some indications and some ideas. And now in Bahrain I'm gonna continue with that with those ideas that I had after the test, with those analysis that we did as a team and see if there's potential going that direction and maybe I might get it wrong and I might have to come back to a different direction and try a different one. It's the beauty of

experimenting a bit with these cars and with the uh w and with your driving. And the same applies to to car set up. We might go one direction, come back, try another one, come back and see where's the right one. I've always felt it's a slightly lazy assumption that drivers can be quick in anything. I I've always thought that some cars do suit some drivers better than others. Would you agree with that?

I think so and I think there's very good examples in the history of Formal One where one car can particularly suit one driver and its driving style. I still think the good the greatest Formula One drivers are the ones who adapt to anything and are fast in anything. But I also find quite interesting how one driver can suddenly

extract a hundred let's say a hundred and two percent out of a a car that really suited his style. I think again it's the beauty of Formula One and I think it's is is part of the of the nature of the sport and and the human side of the driving.

Rydyn ni'n cael cymdeithasol o hyn y McLaren, rydych chi wedi'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i'i' Yeah, I I actually remember having a few conversations with Daniel because I did exactly the same step I came from the Renault which was a let's say uh a particular car in one direction.

And suddenly the McLaren was a particular car in the opposite direction. And I went into McLaren telling the McLaren guys guys, this the cars are completely different. I don't know how to drive this car. And I did the test in Abu Dhabi and I said I need to reset everything. And I went into my first year in McLaren having to reset all my references and all my way of driving.

I remember telling Daniel a couple of times, look, the cars do feel really, really different and And yeah, it it's it's proved to be uh the truth that in Formula One you can find completely different balances, completely different driving cells, and you just have to keep adapting and keep absorbing all the information to to be an adaptable driver. Mae'n ymwneud ymwneud ymwneud ymwneud ymwneud ymwneud ymwneud.

I can tell you what I like. If it's my strength or not, I think it's others to judge. I prefer a car that understeers than a car that oversteers. Why? my driving is really aggressive when I when I'm out on track. I know everyone calls me smooth operator, but I I was about to say that. The biggest misnomer ever. He's not actually smooth. I can make a car rotate. Like I turn the car myself with the steering wheel with the pedals.

I know how to make a car turn. Let's say. So you give me an understeer car, don't worry, I'll make it turn. You give me an oversteer car, and all of a sudden I bring that oversteer to the next level, and the car on me. oversteers like crazy. So I need to stabilize the car, let's say. No one... Uh the McLaren was under steering and I think probably that suited a bit my my my driving style and I managed to to make it turn.

with the brakes and um Ferrari's a bit more neutral, a bit more in the middle. The Renault was really over steery. The Renault had a lot of front end and uh and maybe I I struggled a bit to adapt to that. But uh it's given me a a great variety of of cars that I've tested in the last few years to give me a good overall feel of where my driving is and what do I need to work on.

That's interesting'cause with your I'm gonna say rallying background, o of course you've never competed, but I know you've driven a lot of rallying. I would imagine the science Household chat involved a lot of rallying back in the day, I would have thought you would have been an oversteer man. I know, but it if you think about it it it also makes sense because it means that with my

style I turn cars, no? I let's say I I make them turn, which is also part of an aggressive rally style. No, so you could see it both ways, but uh yeah, I love rallying. I love uh driving

Right. Rydyn ni'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd I think we had a positive first test in Barcelona. But again, in Barcelona no one... push the engine no one push the fuel but our first impression was positive i think we feel like like we've done some good progress since last year

I think Bahrain is going to start telling us a bit where we are. We've seen GPS data and we are relatively happy about this GPS data that we've seen. But again, was Mercedes and Red Bull running more or less fuel than us? You only need ten kilos of fuel to make three or four tenths of difference, and we know fuel tank to make that three or four tenths difference so we don't know we don't know it's very difficult to tell

Do you think the field will be closer in term in lap time? So the difference between first and tenth will be closer? I thought so before going to Barcelona, then in Barcelona I saw quite Let's say big ish differences. I I would say similar to last year. Uh where the field was covered in a couple of seconds, I think. Yeah. Well, the paddock jungle drums are saying that Ferrari are right there at the minute. So um that must fill you with so much excitement. It does, but again...

Suddenly here Mercedes has brought this torpedo car with no side boats and It's got no cooling at all. Everyone says Red Bull has brought a big upgrade also. w we haven't brought massive upgrades. We've we are focusing in in understanding this car that we brought to Barcelona. We we think that by optimising it and by running it

in the peak of its down force and in peaks o of its performance, there is an upgrade there just by by getting to know the car. There's a pretty big upgrade if we manage to optimize it. But we haven't brought big things. So It makes you doubt whether this massive Mercedes step that everyone's talking about, the Red Bull step, then all of a sudden Ferrari was there in Barcelona. Alonso thinks that you're gonna have a title push this year. You m good.

Oh, you're right. I'm sure he's done his analysis and he's seen GPS data, probably the same data that I've seen. And he's optimistic about Ferrari the same way that I was telling you that we are pretty happy with what we saw. Yeah, but I've been ready for a while eh for my For my first win. I don't just mean first win actually. I'm talking are you ready to win the world championship? First to win the championship, you need a win and you need consistent podiums.

And I feel like over the last few years I've shown or I've proved to myself even that every time I had a an opportunity to score a podium I I caught it, no and And even I had a chance to to win once or twice and I nearly made it, no so I'm I'm confident. I I know you give me the right car, I think I can be there. I think of Gasly's win at Monza. That's the one that really sits in my mind as the one that Carlos Sainz That was the closest, huh?

Yeah, Gasly leading a Grand Prix for the first time in his career. Carlos Sainz running in the top two of a Grand Prix for the first time in his career. Carlos, your second, no mistakes. Ahí van les cuentas. of a lap sliding through the Ascara Shikane, it's like watching his father doing rally. in Formula One. But up ahead, Pierre Gasly is in Be a gasly! He wins the Italian Group! One three. Carlos Saints Comes home for So what a great fight he gave. What's a race, Carlos, P2.

I know you wanted the win, but your P2 buddy, that's a really good result. Grateful weekend. I don't know whether to afford to grow. Hi. So close, but yet so far. One more lap. I knew one more lap. Ai, ai. It's how it goes sometimes. You you need to have the luck on your side and maybe that red flag there in the halfway through a race that I would have been on the lead without that red wool flag I think You spend a lot of time looking back, going, Ah

Yeah, because I was genuinely the second fastest guy behind Hamilton that weekend. And I was pit to the whole race. Hamilton and Mercedes did this mistake of pitting under. under the under the pit lane enclosed in safety car and uh and I know that Lead was mine and that the race win was on from there and suddenly the red flag reset everything and And through it made my life a lot more complicated, but still made it back to nearly winning.

Carlos, one of the many things that impresses me about you is that you are such a level character. I look like a level character. Am I really a level character? That's a question. Bye. Or maybe behind closed doors, I don't know. But in terms of you know, what we saw after that race i Edmond's other one we're talking about was clear disappointment, but you managed to just contain it and equally when a a result has surprised you there hasn't been

The massive elation either. It's Are you sure you're a Latino? I'm not convinced, you know. I am. Trust me, I am. And if you play tennis or paddle with me, then you will see my Latino side now. Paddle. Paddle is a thing. Or whatever. Yeah. Yeah, I've just started playing paddle. It's good fun, eh? Yeah. Yeah, I was really surprised by it actually. Do you play paddle uh with your teammate, Charles Leclerc?

We did uh last night with Lando too. We did uh me and Lando against my dad and Charles. We lost by one point but uh it was good That sounds really fun. Is the old man? Like he was Spanish squash champion. And so all the racket sports, he's nearly sixty but he still has this massive talent for racket sports. Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE So he's he's pretty good handy with a racket. Right. And are you the best current driver at Paddle?

Yeah, I reckon, yeah. I mean, paddle is a Spanish sport and I've been playing paddle my whole life, so I must be. For these cars I have to. If you're not in the best condition. I work on the tires are gonna allow us to push a bit more this year. The cars are heavier, but they still produce a lot of downforce. So if I'm not in my best condition then Everything is over.

This episode is sponsored by Honda. Since its first Formula One victory in the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix, Honda has always taken what's learned on the track and used it to build better cars for everyone. From pushing limits in F1 to engineering the next generation of hybrids like the Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid, Honda proves that racing doesn't just inspire innovation, it drives it.

And that idea of taking lessons from the racetrack and applying them to road cars has always been a part of Honda's DNS. Decades of engineering in the demanding world of Formula One have helped shape the performance and efficiency you see in Honda's road cars today. And now that same thinking is shaping the next generation of hybrids as well. Cars like the 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Hybrid show that electrification can be both efficient and genuinely fun to drive.

The 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid are engineered for fun, from the racetrack to your driveway. Learn more about the Prelude and Civic and the latest innovations at Honda.com. Och att du får oväntade hinder längsvägen. Enligt konsumenternas. اشتركوا في القناة

What is harder to prepare, body or mind? When I prepare my body, my mind gets ready to Let's see how I explain this. When I am disciplined, when I go to the gym every day, I do my hour of cardio, my hour and a half of weightlifting. I wake up early, I have my breakfast, I have my diet. The mind comes with it. All of a sudden you feel strong, you feel powerful, you feel disciplined, you feel ready.

And I recommend this to people a lot. It's like, are you struggling with maybe a bit of mental health, lack of self-confidence? Try waking up one day at seven, go to the gym. Do your workout, come back, have your coffee, uh and go to work.

See how you perform at work that day. It's completely different. It you just feel empowered, no? And when I'm physically ready, I'm mentally ready. This is it's And that's I train a lot of the days that I go training, I don't train because I need a bigger biceps or a bigger neck or a bigger chest or I train because I know the feeling that the training is gonna give me going into a race or or a or a day.

And how much stronger are you uh than you than back in twenty fifteen when you came into Formula One? Because these things are cumulative, right? I imagine you get fitter and stronger every year that you you're maintaining that regime. I can give you an example. My first race in Formula One Toroso was quite tight on the weight, and I had to be light as a driver. And I was 66 kilos, 66 and a half naked, 70.5 with full race team kit. So let's start, let's say 70.5, no? With full race team kit.

Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE. Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE. It's not beer. It's not beer and it's not uh fat. And that's predominantly net. And quite a lot of it is also in the glutes and the legs because I've started working on them quite a lot with deadlifting and and squat.

So you're fit uh you can beat Shaw at paddle. How would you describe your relationship with him?

I think we're we have an honest honestly good relationship away from the track and we We are actually similar guys in terms of the the things we like to do away from the track and it allows us to have a lot of conversations about life away from the track and we We are genuinely having fun with each other, playing paddle, playing poker in the airplanes, chess, we play anything we we actually enjoy it quite a lot.

And and inside the truck we have an honest respect to each other. I really respect what Charles has done in his career and the way he drives, the way he approaches the Formula One in general. And I think that respect just gives us that mutual respect gives us a good relationship as teammates. And um and yeah, we we're both keen on keeping that going for the for the future. How quick is he? Very great. You've had some pretty mighty teammates in your time.

Is he as quick as anyone you've been up against? Yeah, for sure. But uh also was Lando and also was Max and also was Nico. I mean And Danny Kivyad in his day was amazing. There's no one slow in Formula 1. How can I tell you this? There's no one in Formula 1 that you would say, no, this guy is not up for Formula 1. They are all crazy quick.

In the end, it's one tenth that makes a difference of making it a good day or a bad day to you. I beat Charles by one tenth. I'm happy. He beats me by one tenth. I'm sad. Where is one tenth in life in a Formula One car? Breaking four turn one on his in a high speed corner that maybe you didn't go as fast as you should have and One day it will go to you, one day it will go to me. But we are all very, very quick, let's say.

Are you able I love you talking about a tenth of a second like that? People who aren't racing drivers, we can't even relate to that amount of time. Can you can you actually visualize one tenth on the racetrack? in the steering wheel that is telling me I went Yeah. and you realize Ah, maybe I could have break three or four meters later. What is three or four meters at 320 kPa? three or four meters at 320 kph is that you should have blinked

Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE. Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE. Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE Yeah, that is the difference, isn't it? Between the great and the good. Isn't it? is the consistency of being able to do that every weekend that makes you the great because I really believe any Formula One driver in their good day is as fast as any other Formula One driver in the good day.

I think w we are honestly we are twenty really fast guys right now in Formula One and you just need to l look into their careers before Formula One if if you have any doubt. So it's a matter of who can do it in a twenty three races, who can perform at that level more consistently and be always there. Ah so how satisfying was it for you to beat Charles over the season last year? satisfying because obviously

You always want to be ahead is is and anyone who says he doesn't it's it's lying. No, you always want to be ahead, but not only in the championship, in every statistic and I and I'm aware he beat me in a lot of other statistics, the same way that I beat him in a pretty important one that is the points.

You want to be ahead and we work our ass off, sorry for the to be ahead in every session, in every moment of the of the weekend and yeah it was my first year in Ferrari but I I managed to get there in a in a good level and and be there straight away since the beginning and especially I managed to pick at the end of the year, which was when I was feeling more at home with a car, and that pick at the end of the year allowed me just to jump him in the end.

What do you think beating him has done for your reputation? I didn't think I needed to beat him to do... good things to my reputation because I've already been signed by Ferrari. I've already done two very good years in McLaren. But for me it was a reassurance for me and to everyone that I'm here to win and to try and be the best.

mm and I keep keep trying to prove that. I I I try to do the same with Lando, with Max, with with anyone. I The fact that it works out is anecdotal, but this is what we are all trying to do here. Try to prove that you're the best one and you try to be the best one. I think if you can beat Charles over a season, you can beat anyone. I want to think so.

I know where Charles is in in uh in Formula One and I think how good I know how good he is. I have pretty good comparisons to do to make with with Lando with Max. And and I know where where he stands and Uh yeah, I know it was a a good year for me, twenty twenty one for for that reason.

Exciting times ahead. Just how much more comfortable do you feel coming into your second season with the team? What how much difference does that make? I feel like it's not a little bit more than a little bit a great opportunity to have had one full year with the whole team, so I know how the team works. I know everyone on the team. I know how to operate. I know who do I need to... chase to to get one thing or the other.

We've improved massively the race team since race one of last year with strategy, with the way we we work together. But at the same time on the driving side, this has start from zero with the new cars. So All the things that I discovered last year with the Ferrari, the way to drive it Uh the where was the tricks of those last two tents that in the end of the year I knew exactly where those two tents were. I knew which setup I liked from that Ferrari twenty twenty one.

then all of a sudden I don't have that anymore and I need to go and chase it again and I need to go and find those last two tenths of setup, those last two tenths of driving. And that's where it gets more complicated. If it would've been a continuation from last year, the car would have been uh an evolution of last year's car, then I think it would have been a lot easier. But it's a reset to zero on that side.

And it's a reset for everybody. Exactly. So your recent experience of going through that learning process, I would say, helps you. It could it could help me and it could be a an advantage. But at the same time, honestly though, I think in Formula One I think everyone is good on that. I think I think I've I've done well on adapting to new teams, don't get me wrong, and I think it's been a strong point of mine.

But when I look at Charles, when I look at Lando, when I look at Max, I don't think they will struggle to adapt to a new car. I think we are all so talented that... We're at that point. This episode is sponsored by Honda. Since its first Formula One victory in the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix, Honda has always taken what's learned on the track and used it to build better cars for everyone.

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The 2026 Prelude Hybrid and Civic Sedan Hybrid are engineered for fun, from the racetrack to your driveway. Learn more about the Prelude and Civic and the latest innovations at Honda.com. Söter på oväntade hinder längst vä. İzlediğiniz için teşekkür ederim. Frankad enligt konsumenternas. You just talked about what buttons you have to press at Ferrari to get things done. Um how different is the modus operandi here compared to other teams?

Different. Different. Um Different and and and Ferrari has its its very strong points and and things that we we need to work on, but I think it's What changes the most is the culture and the way you interact with people and the culture of the team. But I also must say that all the teams in Formula One are still also converging quite a lot in this sense.

We are all becoming perfectly run machines of people you know and we all run like a spaceship you know when you go to a meeting in all the teams everyone starts to speak a bit the same language and the same in the same way and Formula One is reaching a level that if you are not at that level then you are not Formula 1 and I think it's super interesting to see this across all the teams. Well the designs converge, so why shouldn't they operationally as well?

Exactly. I wanted to mean operationally all the teams also are converging quite a lot

Has being at Ferrari changed your view on Formula One as a whole? Do you feel you understand the bigger picture better now that you've been with the the oldest, most historic team on the grid? I understand better the bigger picture of what it means to be a Ferrari driver and what it's like to have all the T-Fossi behind you in every country you go to. And this is This they've tried to explain to me before a thousand times and I

tried to understand, but I never really understood. And now that I've experienced driving at Monza for Ferrari. Experienced adulation before at the Spanish Grand Prix and other places. Is this different though? Different it is different because the the tifosi are so passionate and so crazy about Formula One and and the team. That is something I've never lived before. I've seen people being crazy about me in Spain, but you can see that they are crazy about something bigger than you.

is you are in charge of making this whole brand, this whole country proud, not not yourself or not as the fans. You're in charge of bringing the Cavalino to the top. It's like playing for our national team. It's you're representing Italy when you are driving for Ferrari, so it's something bigger than than yourself. You know, it's something bigger than I'm trying to explain it the best I can. I'm trying to compare it to things.

Yeah, and I go to Bologna airport nearly every week and people recognize me. Nowadays I wear a cup and a mask and I start to know the tricks to don't get recognized too much. Problem is when they recognize you they get so nervous. Nervous. But you cannot imagine there's people shaking with their hand, they shake, they don't know how to put turn the camera around and they take

A picture of something in front of you instead of something instead of yourself and and they get really nervous. They they shake and it's crazy crazy. Yeah. Man, that is crazy, isn't it? What has surprised you about Ferrari? the good atmosphere that you live in i mean i'm living in a in a team that feels again Like a family everyone talked to me about the pressure of being in Ferrari and all that looking.

In the end, we're all human beings and we're all enjoying being part of Formula One. Yes, there's a huge responsibility driving for this team, but we are still a group of Engineers, drivers, mechanics that we are still getting on well between each other and we formed this team. And I thought that this in Ferrari maybe was not possible because of the pressure and the responsibility, but it... If anything is the opposite and you feel it in the same way.

Nigel Mansell once told me that Ferrari looked after him better than any other team he raced for. Have you found that? There's a particular department that maybe if they listen to this, they like the logistics guys, that they take care of our traveling, our clothes that goes everywhere. It's incredible the way that they take care of us. It's different.

Everything perfectly folded everywhere we go, the the suit, the boots perfectly it's everything is perfect, is and you're they take care of you amazing, yeah. And I guess you get a decent company car here as well, right? Yeah, uh yeah. Everywhere we travel to we we have a Ferrari, except maybe a couple of races we have alphas or Or Maserati but uh I would say eighty percent of the races we get at Ferrari, which is pretty good. What's your everyday car?

I have a Alfa Romeo quadrifolio, it's five hundred and Nice. It's beautiful. Good is a SUV, which I go a lot to the countryside and it it does me well. I'm buying a new Ferrari now, it's my first car that I buy. Tell me you get a deal. You might get a bit of a deal, but not a lot. Ha ha. It is uh not as much as people think, let's say. With memories of of you disappearing off in your new Ferrari, we probably ought to bring this to an end. Thank you so much for your time.

Dare we even talk about expectations? If you and I were to sit down at the end of the season, what would satisfy you in terms of results? It's difficult to tell right now, but I'd like to get a win. And then the rest, let's see. But you know, I keep chasing the the my dream in that in Formula One that is to win first race. obviously then a championship, but to win a championship you need to win a race.

Will keep chasing that. I'm not saying it will happen, but it's what I wake up every morning or what I go to sleep with in my head every day. So I wish it can happen. Win a race, and the rest will take care of itself. Thank you very much. Carlos is one of the drivers on the grid that I enjoy talking to the most because he speaks so much. I loved hearing his thoughts on the new cars and about the challenge of driving them on the limit and of course how he's now fully integrated into the Scudery.

I'm sure I'm not alone in hoping that the F-175 is genuinely fast this year and Carlos can show the world just how good he is. Time. I'm going to start going to the gym at 7am. I'd love to hear what you thought of that chat with Carlos or any stories that you might have about him. Maybe you're one of the nervous shaking fans.

Who stopped him for a selfie at Bologna Airport? Send them to me on Twitter, I'm at TomClarksonF1, and use the hashtag F1BeyondTheGrid. Please follow and rate the podcast and tell a friend about it so they can listen too. Actually, speaking of telling friends about great podcasts to listen to, you should check out the latest episode.

of the F1 Nation podcast that I do with Damon Hill and Natalie Pinkham. It's a Bahrain Grand Prix preview this week and it's out now. Just search your podcast app for F1 Nation. We'll be releasing new episodes of Beyond the Grid every Wednesday during the Formula One season, so I'll be back next week with another unmissable conversation. Thanks for listening. F1 Beyond the Grid is produced by F1 and Audio Boom Studios. På Cirque älskar vi att fira våra kunder. Kunt nummer 143 312!

Perfekta sättet. Som medlem i Circle Key Extra blir du belönad för varje besök. Som mat! Du vet när man är först med att kolla på en ny tv-serie. Och efter ett tag har alla börjat kolla på den. Så är det med biltema för mig. Nej, men jag borde inte ha berättat försläkten om era pris. Licez. På Circle Key älskar vi att fira våra kunder. Grattis! Kund nummer 143 312. Hittat det perfekta sättet. Som medlem i Circle Key Extra blir du belönad för varje besök och dessutom. Som mat