Carlos Sainz Vazquez de Castro made his debut as a Scuderia Ferrari racing driver almost four years ago, and in his time wearing red overalls found four Grands Prix victories and 21 further podium finishes despite the recent Red Bull domination. Carlos has departed Ferrari to make room for seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, moving on to Williams Grand Prix for the 2025 season. In his last official act as a Ferrari driver, the team put on a celebratory day for him at the famous Pista Di Fiorano test track, and the F1 driver brought his father and namesake Carlos Sainz Cenamor, a world champion driver in his own right, with him.
While the event marks the end of a chapter of Sainz’ career, it seems like a beautiful send-off for the ace driver leaving easily the most legendary team in F1. Getting to share the track in modern F1 machinery with his two-time WRC champ and five-time Dakar Rally winner father must have been an absolute dream. Despite señor Sainz the senior having spun his son’s 2022 F1-75 chassis, the 62-year-old driver managed to put in a decent day’s work behind the wheel.
After both Sainz had an opportunity to run some laps solo, the pair each got into a car and ran formation laps together. This seems like it would be the fairy tale ending to a team player’s magnificent career. Carlos the younger was driving the exact chassis with which he took his first F1 victory at the 2022 British Grand Prix. That’s a hell of a bookend for your stint as a Tifosi favorite.
The day ended with Sainz and Sainz taking turns driving a legendary machine recently restored by the Ferrari Classiche department. They drove the 1955 735 LM, which was driven in the Mille Miglia by Piero Taruffi and shared at the 24 Hours of Le Mans by Harry Schell and Maurice Trintignant. Being a 1955 model, Ferrari figured the driver who raced with the number 55 should be the first to really give it the beans.
I hope one day when Jalopnik replaces me with a 7-time Pulitzer prize winner I get an F1 track day at Fiorano with my dad to celebrate.
