Considered to be one of the most political drivers on the paddock, Carlos Sainz is naturally a delight in interviews. No doubt that only boosts the rising star’s success as Sainz is slowly but surely making his mark. It is quite natural in the sporting world for athletes to follow and admire personalities from other sports. Well, Sainz is not any different.
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In a recent interview with The New York Times, Sainz was asked about the athlete he admired the most, and the Ferrari driver named American Golf legend Tiger Woods.
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Carlos Sainz would like to meet Tiger Woods
Like many fans dream of meeting their heroes, Sainz spoke about his wish to meet Woods someday, and what he imagined that meeting would be like,
“For me, I always look up to people that create a point in the history of their sport that changes that sport forever, and Tiger is the one that, for me, changed his sport the most of any other athlete in the world.”
Golf – The 150th Open Championship – Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland, Britain – July 12, 2022 Tiger Woods of the US during practice REUTERS/Paul Childs
Carlos Sainz made no secret about his dream of meeting Tiger Woods someday. As to how that meeting would go, Sainz added: “He’s the only guy that I think I would be nervous meeting.”
“It sounds strange that I say that. I’ve met Rafael Nadal, I met Michael Schumacher back in the day, and many, many others, but Tiger I think would impress me.”
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“I was born to do racing, to be good at racing, and then maybe, if I would’ve been a professional golfer, I doubt God would have given me two good talents.”
Confident as ever, Carlos Sainz is clearly a man who neither overestimates nor underestimates himself. And that is a rarity to find in this day and age.
Carlos Sainz is improving over time
Sainz has only been improving in the last few seasons. Speaking of his experience at Ferrari, Sainz remarked:
“I find it incredibly frustrating, especially knowing how good I am and how good I’ve been the last few years in F1, how, in the first year that I have a car to win, I find it such a difficult car to drive for my driving style and to set it up for my liking. But then the growth progress has been huge during the season and I managed to find a much better level.”
Formula One F1 – British Grand Prix – Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Britain – July 3, 2022 Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr celebrates on the podium after winning the race REUTERS/Molly Darlington
In this season, Sainz secured his maiden win and pole position at the British Grand Prix.
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However, while he continues to deliver his best, Sainz is still far from a championship title. As he himself said:
“But then as my championship hopes were starting to pick up, I had this DNF in Austria that completely stole the positive trend. Since then it’s been the penalty in France, the difficult race in Hungary, the podium in Spa, but even if I’ve been a lot more competitive since Canada and Silverstone, it’s still been difficult to get a bit of a run of good results .”
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WATCH THIS STORY: “Gives Me the Confidence…”: Struggling Charles Leclerc Reveals the Biggest Perk of Teaming Up Alongside Carlos Sainz
Nevertheless, Sainz is hopeful about the future and optimistic about his exponential progress. In the recent Italian Grand Prix, Sainz finished fourth, keeping Lewis Hamilton at bay. Hearing Sainz, we can only be contagiously hopeful and excited about his future.
