As the Spanish Grand Prix is around the corner, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso are getting ready for their home race. The age difference between them is 13 years. Naturally, it goes without saying that when Sainz was still dreaming of becoming a successful race car pilot, he must have looked up to Alonso who was already killing it in the game. Fernando Alonso debuted in Formula 1 in 2001, and two years later, he won his first F1 race in Hungary. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz walked into the premiere class of motorsports in 2015.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali had once claimed their shared nationality makes the two very good friends. On top of all this, Sainz is currently a driver for Scuderia Ferrari where Alonso had spent 5 years. All of this goes to show that the young Spaniard has followed in the footsteps of the Asturian throughout his career. Now, what did the eminent journalist Antonio Lobato have to say about the influence of Fernando Alonso over Carlos Sainz?

Michael Schumacher played matchmaker for Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso

The successful Spanish pair of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz has seen the former influence the latter to attain success in Formula 1. Speaking on how this influence came into play, Antonio Lobato told DAZN, “He [Carlos Sainz] saw a crazy guy on his TV who ended Michael Schumacher’s streak“. This refers to Nando breaking the legendary German racer’s five consecutive F1 title streak in the early 2000s.

When Fernando Alonso won his first World Championship in 2005, he beat Michael Schumacher to it. At that time, Carlos Sainz was a young karting driver of 11. He had seen how his fellow Spaniard became victorious against one of the most formidable racers of all time. As per Lobato, that had given Carlos Sainz a boost to pursue his aspirations in Formula 1. And now, the 29-year-old is a Ferrari racer who repeatedly beats his childhood hero Alonso at the current Grands Prix.

Carlos Sainz once elaborated on his relationship with Alonso

While Carlos Sainz was a follower of Fernando Alonso during the early 2000s, they are colleagues now. But despite them being from the same country, they are hardly seen together at the F1 paddocks. This makes one wonder if the two Spaniards are on good terms. And the speculations became worse when they locked horns at last year’s Australian GP. Sainz had tipped Alonso’s Aston Martin causing him to spin out during a late-race restart. This landed the Ferrari racer a 5-second penalty.

However, he later claimed that there was no bad blood between him and his childhood hero. The #55 driver said, “There is no problem between Fernando and me despite what some have tried to show. Our relationship continues to be very good and it is neither the first nor the last battle that we are going to have on the track.” Thus, Sainz dispelled the rumors about holding a grudge against Nando despite their incident in Melbourne in 2023.

While last year’s Australian GP had seen Carlos Sainz get penalized, this year he became victorious. The Ferrari racer has collected 3 Grand Prix victories till now at only 29 years of age. If he does continue to drive in Formula 1 like Fernando Alonso for at least another 13 years, he might also equal Oviedo’s win count of 32 and maybe even a couple of F1 Championships too. Do you think Carlos Sainz can equal Fernando Alonso’s 2 World Champion wins? Let us know in the comments below.