When Fernando Alonso Accidentally Lost Carlos Sainz’s Lucky Charm

Recently, McLaren driver Carlos Sainz Jr spoke to the In The Pink podcast on various subjects. Among them, he opened up on his relationship with double world champion, Fernando Alonso. He recounted an incident during his first Spanish Grand Prix weekend, while they were on the driver’s parade.

Apparently, he was wearing a baseball cap, which was his lucky charm, but Alonso took it off and tossed it into the crowd. However, Sainz did not blame him for the action, because he probably thought that Sainz had several others like it. Initially, Sainz was a little superstitious and thought that his race would be ruined without the cap. Eventually, he realised that he was being foolish.

Carlos Sainz recalls his first meeting with Fernando Alonso

As it turns out, the two Spaniards first met back in 2005, when Alonso was dominating during his Renault days. He confessed that Alonso was his idol and reference point and he wanted to be like him.

He also described the surreal feeling of racing alongside his idol, nearly a decade later. At that time, he qualified in a career-best 5th place, and he was proud to have achieved it at his home race.

Now, to succeed him at McLaren is quite a tough task, especially when he is replacing a double world champion. However, he observed that the transition was so natural and he felt good about it.

Now, the 25-year old Spaniard is looking forward to completing whatever is left of the 2020 season. After that, comes his first big test, where he heads to Scuderia Ferrari to partner Charles Leclerc. He also looked back to the 2019 season, arguably his best season to date, even culminating in a podium in Brazil. Without a doubt, Carlos Sainz’ star is rising fast and could peak during his impending Ferrari stint.