During his time at a driving school in Madrid, Sainz was coached by María de Villota. Following her death in 2013, he was named Ambassador of her legacy in 2016 and has worn a star on his helmet in her honour since 2014.
Sainz began karting in 2006. In 2008 he won the Asia-Pacific KF3 title and was runner-up in the Spanish Championship. In 2009 he won the Junior Monaco Kart Cup and was runner-up in the European KF3 Championship.
In 2010 Sainz raced in Formula BMW Europe with the EuroInternational team, finishing the season fourth with 227 points. He was also part of the Red Bull Junior Team programme from 2010. In 2011 he won the Formula Renault NEC championship with Koiranen, finishing runner-up to Robin Frijns in the Eurocup.
In 2012 Sainz raced in both British Formula 3 and the Formula 3 Euro Series with Carlin, winning four races and finishing sixth in the British championship, and recording two podiums in the Euro Series. After a tenth-place finish with Arden in the 2013 GP3 Series, Sainz moved to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. In 2014 he switched to DAMS and won the championship, claiming victories at Monza, Aragon, Spa (twice), the Nürburgring, and Paul Ricard.
His first experience in a Formula One car came at the young drivers' test at Silverstone in July 2013, driving the Toro Rosso STR8 and the Red Bull RB9. As a reward for his Formula Renault 3.5 title, he drove the Red Bull RB10 in the post-season test after the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Sainz debuted with Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2015, partnering Max Verstappen following Daniil Kvyat's promotion to Red Bull. He selected race number 55. He qualified inside the top ten for his debut at the Australian Grand Prix and finished ninth. A 150 km/h, 46 g impact into the barriers during practice for the Russian Grand Prix resulted in a hospital stay; he was declared fit to race but suffered a brake failure and did not finish. He finished seventh at the United States Grand Prix after starting last and gaining ten places on the first lap. He ended his debut season fifteenth in the Drivers' Championship with 18 points to teammate Verstappen's 49.
In 2016 Verstappen was promoted to Red Bull and replaced by Daniil Kvyat. Sainz's best finishes were sixth at the Spanish Grand Prix and a drive from twentieth to ninth at the Canadian Grand Prix. He ended the season twelfth, scoring 46 of Toro Rosso's 63 points.
In 2017 Sainz and Kvyat remained at Toro Rosso. Prior to the Singapore Grand Prix it was announced Sainz would join Renault for 2018 on loan from Red Bull. He finished fourth at Singapore in what he described as his "best day in Formula One". At this stage of the season, Sainz had scored 48 of Toro Rosso's 52 points.
Sainz replaced Jolyon Palmer at Renault from the 2017 United States Grand Prix, partnering Nico Hülkenberg. He finished seventh on debut and ended the season ninth in the championship with 54 points.
In 2018 Sainz qualified in the top ten at each of the first eight races and scored points in all but one. He finished fifth at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after a collision between Red Bull teammates Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. He ended the season tenth in the Drivers' Championship with 53 points, three places behind Hülkenberg. Sainz was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo at Renault for the following season.
Sainz joined McLaren in 2019, ending his Red Bull association. He replaced Fernando Alonso and partnered Lando Norris. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Sainz started last after a qualifying engine problem, worked his way to fourth by the penultimate lap, gained another place when Alex Albon was spun by Lewis Hamilton ahead, and was then elevated to third after Hamilton received a penalty — earning his first Formula One podium. He scored 96 points over the season to Norris's 49 and finished sixth in the championship.
In 2020 Sainz remained alongside Norris. At the Styrian Grand Prix he qualified third, setting a then-career-best qualifying result, and set a new Red Bull Ring track record with the fastest lap. At the Italian Grand Prix he qualified third and ultimately finished 0.4 seconds behind Pierre Gasly in second, his second Formula One podium. He finished the season sixth in the championship for the second consecutive year, accumulating 105 points to Norris's 97.
Sainz replaced Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari for 2021 on a two-year contract, partnering Charles Leclerc. He took his third career podium and first with Ferrari at the Monaco Grand Prix, finishing second. He added a fourth podium at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. After finishing the season fifth in the championship with 164.5 points — two positions and 5.5 points ahead of Leclerc — he signed a contract extension to the end of 2024.
In 2022 Sainz took his first Formula One pole position in a wet qualifying session at the British Grand Prix, beating Max Verstappen by 0.034 seconds in his 150th Formula One race start. He converted that into his maiden win after Verstappen suffered damage and Sainz pitted for soft tyres in the closing laps, passing Leclerc. He also took pole positions at the Belgian Grand Prix and the United States Grand Prix. He matched his 2021 position with fifth in the Drivers' Championship and scored 246 points to Leclerc's 308.
In 2023 Sainz took pole at the Italian Grand Prix — 0.013 seconds ahead of Verstappen — and his first pole of the year at Singapore, converting that into his second Formula One victory. This ended Red Bull's streak of fifteen consecutive wins and Verstappen's personal win streak of ten; it was the only race of 2023 not won by Red Bull. He and former teammate Lando Norris held off Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps. Sainz ended the season with 200 points to Leclerc's 206.
During the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend Sainz fell ill with appendicitis and missed the race; he was replaced by reserve driver Oliver Bearman. Having recovered, he returned at the Australian Grand Prix, qualified second, capitalised on Verstappen's retirement, and won the race ahead of Leclerc — marking Ferrari's first one-two finish since the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix. He won again at Mexico City from pole position. He ended the season fifth in the championship with a career-best 290 points and was replaced by Lewis Hamilton for 2025. Ferrari rewarded him with his race-winning F1-75 chassis from 2022 upon departure.
Sainz joined Williams on a two-year deal for 2025, partnering Alexander Albon. He secured his first podium with Williams at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, qualifying second and finishing third. He scored a second podium at the Qatar Grand Prix. He ended the season ninth in the Drivers' Championship, nine points behind teammate Albon, who outqualified Sainz eight times. Sainz thereby joined Alain Prost as the only drivers to have won podiums for Ferrari, McLaren, and Williams. He is contracted to remain at Williams until at least the end of the 2026 season.
In February 2025, Sainz was appointed a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), replacing Sebastian Vettel who retired from Formula One at the end of 2022. His primary role is to relay paddock concerns about safety, racing quality, and the junior driver pipeline. Sainz owns a hamburger restaurant in Madrid named Boogie Burger, opened in June 2023. He was robbed of a Richard Mille watch worth a reported €315,000 in Milan in 2023 and ran and captured his assailant.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
Gallery · 4 related images
