Ferrari announced last May that Sainz had signed a two-year contract with a two-year contract from 2021 to replace four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Sainz has been one of the standout players in F1 midfield for the past two seasons. He scored two podiums and led McLaren to third in the championship last year.
The Spaniard quickly embedded himself in Ferrari and completed his first simulator run at the Maranello base on Friday afternoon.
Sainz thought about it when Ferrari first contacted them about a racing seat in 2021 in the months leading up to a deal, and said he tried not to believe it too much as he thought the team would go with it many drivers speak.
“When we first get in touch, you can imagine yourself getting into it without believing too much,” Sainz told Motorsport.com.
“[You’re thinking] You just have to talk to all of the drivers. So I tried to be very relaxed. I tried to always focus on the present.
“But there was nothing to be done during the lockdown. There wasn’t much to think about, so I started getting a little more interested and a little more interested.
“During this time everything suddenly started to go very quickly.”
Also read:
Sainz was named as Vettel’s replacement just 48 hours after Ferrari’s German departure was confirmed, all before the start of the late 2020 season.
Sainz was prepared for a wave of questions and tests as the new season began following Ferrari’s announcement, but praised the way the McLaren team handled the situation to avoid any build-up of pressure.
“When you sign for Ferrari you know what’s coming, all the media attention,” said Sainz.
“It was in the middle of the lockdown and I knew there would be a lot of questions asked when entering Austria.
“It is a period of time when you know you are going to get a lot of media attention, especially in Spain. I don’t think a lot of people in Spain expected Carlos Sainz to be part of Ferrari a year or two ago. So it got pretty big back then.
“But it went away very quickly. We worked with McLaren to ensure that not many stories developed, but only focused on the present.
“We didn’t want the stories to be generated and we wanted to focus on a very important year that we were having. I think it worked really well.
“The relationship with McLaren has always been very open and very relaxed. So I never really felt a lot of pressure and weight on my shoulders. “
The post Carlos Sainz recalls F1 talks with Ferrari about moving in 2021 first appeared on monter-une-startup.
