Carlos Sainz Jr.

Carlos Sainz Jr. (Born 1 September 1994) is a Spanish racing driver. The son of former rally driver Carlos Sainz Sr., he followed the single seater series and debuted for Toro Rosso in 2015. After impressive performances, he joined Renault for the final 54 races of the 2017 season to replace Jolyon Palmer and was signed permanently in 2018. In 2019, he joined the resurgent McLaren, where he scored his first ever podium and also received his "Smooth Operator" nickname, after the eponymous song. In 2021, McLaren became a serious force in the now-called Formula Earth and Sainz finished 2nd. In 2022, he and his teammate Lando Norris took over the grid by storm and won with an 1-2 finish in the series. Sainz won the world championship with all but one races on the podium and scoring 370 points. After being beaten by Charles Leclerc in 2023, he won back-to-back titles in 2024 and 2025, becoming the most succesful Spanish driver in the history of the series and taking the record from legend Fernando Alonso. From 2026 onwards, Sainz fizzled out and after finishing 5th, he became a journeyman, moving to Red Bull in 2027 and to Audi in 2028, being beaten by both teammates Giovanni de Ziel and Jason Leung. In 2029, he stepped down to Formula International, driving for this season for Geely, finishing in a respectable 9th place for the midfielders.