Sainz looks back on first Ferrari contract: 'Signed in my pyjamas'

In May 2020, Carlos Sainz signed his contract at Ferrari. However, before the season had even started, the Spaniard was already guaranteed a seat at superpower Ferrari. In a podcast at P1 with Matt & Tommy, Sainz looks back on what has been the proudest moment of his career.

Coronavirus

What Sainz was thinking when Ferrari shoved a commitment under his nose? "Well, when they offered me that that contract, we were in the middle of COVID. So we were all stuck at home. So I had a lot of time to think about it, imagine being stuck at home for two months. And that was when we did all the negotiation with Ferrari."

Contract negotiations are often done by the driver's manager, as the driver's focus is entirely on the current Formula 1 season. At the time of the coronavirus, it was different, as the season that year did not start until the first weekend of July.

"I had a lot of time to think about it and to this time, I really have a time not to, to say it's not like we were racing, going, race to race and leaving my management team to, to, to hold the negotiation this time, I could get involved and I could I was actually in my parents' home and, and I, we were like all the family and knowing how everything was developing and is it gonna happen?" said the Madrileen.

Signing Ferrari contract

Sainz - still a McLaren driver at the time - can still remember like the day where and how he finally signed the contract proposal from Ferrari. "It's happening Monday at nine, and I woke up in my pajamas and I signed the contract in my pajamas, you know, so everything happened so, so quickly that yeah, it was it was great."

Because of all the coronagraph restrictions, Sainz could do very little with his emotion. He was mostly housebound. "I couldn't celebrate. I couldn't tell anyone, it was like it was good news at a bad time. Even though COVID it was bad news in this story, of course we had a very nice moment or week [with the family]."