Every year, twenty of the best racers from around the globe compete for a single Formula 1 Championship trophy, making it one of the most competitive sports in the world. Naturally, this has led to historic rivalries between teammates, such as the intense competition between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in 2016. However, that was not the case for Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris, who were recruited by McLaren and worked together harmoniously for two years between 2019 and 2020.

During their papaya army days, Norris and Sainz had such a bond of brotherhood between them that fans adored their connection. Even though the Spaniard is 5 years older than Norris, they struck a friendship that is hard to come by in the F1 paddocks. And thanks to McLaren’s PR magic, their pairing gathered a massive following which resulted in the hashtag “#CarLando”. This partnership ended when Carlos Sainz left for Ferrari in 2021, but he might have recently given rebirth to CarLando through a sudden confession that he made in one of his interviews.

Carlos Sainz does not even flinch at a question regarding F1 rivalry

As a part of the media campaigns of their teams, F1 drivers often have to go for interviews. Ferrari racer Carlos Sainz got into such a Q&A recently where he was asked about the one rival on the Formula 1 grid with whom he gets on the best. And as soon as the question left the interviewer’s mouth, the Spaniard had the answer ready. Carlos Sainz said on the Nude Project Podcast that the F1 competitor he is getting on with the best is–“Lando Norris.”

Lando Norris currently drives for McLaren while Carlos is serving his last year at Ferrari. The once-teammates have gone up against one another time and time again. And despite being “rivals”, the Spaniard’s candid answer at the interview is proof that he still considers Lando to be his close friend. The CarLando pairing was so successful that even McLaren’s ex-Market Director had once acknowledged their friendship.

Former McLaren executive once  marvelled at Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz

Often, F1 drivers get so competitive that the team has to impose rules to keep their recruits from taking each other down on the race tracks. But the understanding between Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz never allowed for that to happen. The ex-Marketing Director of McLaren, Henry Chilcott, had worked with the two drivers and had seen their dynamic up close. Speaking of it, he had said, “When we got to the place where Lando and Carlos were there, it was an alchemy of the two of them coming together and it was perfect.“

Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris are one of the most famous pairs in recent F1 history. Their camaraderie catapulted McLaren to huge fame on social media. They also led to fans creating several memes as well. Naturally, when the two were about to be broken up by Carlos’ Ferrari assignment, Lando Norris left a sweet message for his friend saying, “Of course I’ll miss him. We have had a lot of good moments together and fun times and a pleasure to learn from him.”

Now, at the start of the current season in Formula 1, Ferrari announced that Carlos Sainz will not continue with the team next year. The Scuderia decided to drop the #55 driver in favor of Lewis Hamilton who will be shifting to Maranello. With no seat at any of the squads for 2025, there is still no news regarding what will happen to the Spaniard’s career now. Do you think there is any possibility of Mercedes taking him up for the seat that Hamilton is leaving behind? Let us know in the comments below.