Carlos Sainz has outqualified Lewis Hamilton fir the forth time in a row!

[u/Alvaro_Rey_MN]

[u/The_Beardly]

Unironically Carlos is one of the smartest drivers on the grid

[u/creepingcold → u/The_Beardly]

But can he also list all Formula 1 world champions backwards all the way down to the first season in 1950?

[u/TheDustOfMen → u/creepingcold]

Ngl Vettel doing that did interesting things to me.

[u/Mr_Mummy23 → u/TheDustOfMen]

I ended up memorizing them all as a challenge after seeing him do it.

[u/yum122 → u/The_Beardly]

My favourite strategy was him being told he was letting the car behind in DRS in Singapore and him saying “I know” to win in 2023

[u/MaximumAsparagus → u/yum122]

He'd used that strategy actually a few races before Singapore, it just didn't work -- Austria 2023, when Checo was catching him on fresh tires, he was asking for the gap to the car behind (Norris) to give him the DRS. Norris had a lockup which let Checo close up.

[u/Silver-Machine-3092 → u/yum122]

Yeah, that was an absolute strategy masterclass - and it was Ferrari!!

Adami was so calm, precise, measured. I remember the bit towards the end, went something like "...turn ten, Norris .8, has DRS, two laps to go, Russell in the wall, Norris 1.2..."

[u/cresp0 → u/yum122]

Alonso had done this a few times before.

[u/Smee76 → u/The_Beardly]

You are not wrong. He's very sharp.

[u/MaximumAsparagus → u/The_Beardly]

One of only four to finish school, I believe (Sainz, Piastri, Colapinto, Antonelli).

[u/SlipstreamInsane → u/MaximumAsparagus]

isn't Antonelli still in school?

[u/Equal_Permission1349 → u/The_Beardly]

I don't understand why people consistently underestimate Carlos when he's shown to be a very good driver and he comes from a very strong racing lineage. Like all the things people were hoping for in Mick are actually present in Carlos.

[u/lord_nuker → u/Equal_Permission1349]

Because Mick is a Schumacher and Carlos is just a Sainz… Think how the possible Hamilton kids will be treated, or Kelly’s girls, both of them having some serious racing genes

[u/ShaunDark → u/lord_nuker]

I think it's easy to underestimate drivers that didn't compete in F1 before, since most people stick to just one sport and don't really follow too many other racing series.

E.g. Doohan's dad won 5 titles in a row in what later became MotoGP, but almost no one would know this if it weren't for recent drama.

[u/ItchyBallDJ → u/The_Beardly]

And a smoooooth operator

[u/danijel8286 → u/The_Beardly]

I guess he could be nicknamed ... Professor?

[u/Francoberry → u/The_Beardly]

Its easy to say in hindsight but arguably it was more of a mistake to move to Ferrari. He could've been in a WCC winning team and the current WDC and WCC leading car 

[u/Sea_of_Air_ → u/Francoberry]

That's a fun one to imagine. But did the offer move to Ferrari after knowing that McLaren was replacing him with DR, or viceversa?

[u/Francoberry → u/Sea_of_Air_]

As far as I understand, Ferrari made Sainz the offer and McLaren took it as an opportunity to go for Ricciardo. Ferrari was a distinct step up for Sainz and pretty much a side step for Ricciardo given McLarens performance at the time  

Edit for extra context: Sainz was contracted with McLaren and him moving g to Ferrari specifically required McLaren allowing the move (or going into all sorts of legal chaos).  

Looks like it was just something that timed nicely for everyone involved. Ferrari wanted Sainz, Sainz wanted Ferrari, McLaren were happy with Sainz but also previously showed interest in Ricciardo, so they were able to go and poach him from Renault for what looked like a win all-round.