For most of the F1 drivers currently on the grid, an offer from a legendary racing team like Ferrari is a dream. And this dream fell on the doorstep of former McLaren driver Carlos Sainz in 2020. Interestingly, his contract signing was nowhere near what he’d imagined.
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But let’s look at how drivers typically sign contracts. For anyone who wants to get the pen to paper to sign a contract, we expect professionalism when the driver wears a very classic suit or even clothes designed by the future team.
With Sainz, however, it was exactly the opposite. Instead of dressing up very professionally, the Spaniard wore pajamas when signing the contract.
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What did Carlos Sainz say?
Speaking to Motorsport, Sainz revealed that the whole world is in the midst of a crisis amid the wrath of COVID-19. The fact that he couldn’t travel to Italy meant he had to stay with his family and sign the contract from his tiny home office in Madrid.
Formula 1 F1 – Russian Grand Prix – Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Russia – September 26, 2021 Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. celebrates with the trophy on the podium after third place in the racing pool via REUTERS / Yuri Kochetkov
“It’s actually a bit weird story because it was a long negotiation phase,” he said. “It was during COVID. So all conversations were done on zoom and phone calls, which made everything a bit trickier.
“We had to adapt to the situation. And I signed it on exactly the same table that I’m going to give this interview here in Madrid, in the little office we have in the house. We’d spent the whole lockdown with the family, and one day I suddenly woke up around 8 a.m. And I’m still wearing my pajamas. “
My papa has finished with the pen: Sainz
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Sainz was apparently still half awake when he put his pen down on paper. And it was his father who gave him the contract in the first place.
“I come into this room and see that my father has finished with a pen. He says: ‘You have to sign here: it’s the Ferrari contract. And it is done when you sign it ‘. So I signed it in my pajamas at 8 a.m., right after waking up! I just thought, ‘Okay, good morning to you too,’ ”Sainz concluded.
Formula 1 F1 – Styria Grand Prix – Red Bull Ring, Styria, Austria – June 26, 2021 Ferraris Carlos Sainz Jr. before the Styria Grand Prix REUTERS / Leonhard Foeger
Perhaps it was the right way for the Spaniard to be reluctant to sign the contract. Sainz has been at the top of his game since then and is still leading the team-mate battle after 16 race weekends by 0.5 points. But can he hold his own against Charles Leclerc until the end of this season?
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The post Carlos Sainz reveals the signing of his Ferrari F1 contract in the most unusual way first appeared on monter-une-startup.
