When Carlos Sainz pulled back the curtain on his funniest moment with a fan

Former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz once mentioned that he had the funniest fan encounter during the 2022 British Grand Prix when he won his first race in Formula One. The Spanish driver departed from Ferrari at the end of the 2024 season after a four-year tenure with the most iconic F1 team on the grid.

The 30-year-old joined the Italian team from McLaren at the beginning of the 2021 season when he replaced the outgoing former four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. In his time at Maranello, he managed to win four races in as many years and played a role in the Prancing Horses finishing P2 twice in 2022 and 2024.

In a Q&A session last year with his ex-teammate Charles Leclerc, Sainz was asked about his funniest fan encounter. Leclerc too revealed that he remembered the moment at Silverstone and said, via FormuleFans YouTube video:

"Silverstone, two years ago. For your first victory, the guy sounded like the biggest fan of Carlos like motivate you for the win but no."

Sainz amused by the story, re-enacted the moment and said:

"Do P3 yeah."

The moment left the duo in splits as Carlos Sainz went on to win the race after starting from pole position and held off the challenge from Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton.

Charles Leclerc gives his take on Carlos Sainz's move to Williams F1

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc stated that he had full confidence in ex-teammate Carlos Sainz's abilities to turn around the fortunes of Williams F1 in the coming years.

As per Motorsportweek, the Monegasque said after the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last month:

“But I’m sure that it’s just a matter of time before he comes back and joins us to fight for wins. He will give so much to Williams, the way he’s so sensitive to every small change and every small feeling there is in the car. I’m pretty sure that already tomorrow [when Sainz tested a Williams car in the post-season test] they will have a lot of valuable feedback that will help them for next year.”

Leclerc further added that he would miss his "fights" on track in the same car with Sainz:

“I’ll definitely miss the fights. We’ve had our moments on track, but that’s only because we were fighting so close together and because he’s been pushing me all the way. And it’s been an absolute pleasure."

Carlos Sainz will be replaced by Lewis Hamilton in Ferrari, who joins the Italian team on a multi-year deal in 2025. The Spanish driver would look to make a comeback to the front of the grid in the future and lead the Grove-based outfit to become more competitive in the engine regulations era next year.