Who is Carlos Sainz's father?
General
Carlos Sainz has announced together with Williams that he will continue in Formula 1 with the British racing team. Sainz takes after his father in his career choice to become a driver, as Sainz Sr is also a successful person in different categories. GPblog explains to you the achievements of Carlos Sainz Sr.
Sainz Sr is an accomplished rally driver, and at age 62, he is yet to retire. The Spaniard began his in WRC (World Rally Championship) in 1987, where he took part in three races. He had to wait until 1990 to claim his first victory, something that he accomplished at the Acropolis Rally in Greece, driving for Toyota.
When the current Ferrari driver, Sainz Jr was born, Sainz Sr was already a two-time WRC champion. He earned his titles in 1990 and 1992 also with Toyota. In total, he has won 26 WRC events, 24 with Luis Moya as co-driver, and two with Marc Martí. In WRC, he also competed for Subaru, Ford, and Citroen.
In 2005, Sainz Sr only completed in two rally events, and decided to switch to a different competition: the Dakar Rally. Sainz Sr is a four time Dakar Rally champion, and also won the special 2008 Central Europe Rally event, that took place because of the relocation of the famous event. From 2006, he competed in this competition in every year, except for 2012. He earned titles for Volkswagen, Peugeot, Mini and Audi. He was successful in Audi's last Dakar this year, therefore, he is the defending champion.
In his Dakar career, the Spaniard has won 47 stages. Sainz Sr also participated in 15 Extreme E events for his 'Acciona | Sainz XE Team', where he also finished on the podium three times as a driver.