Carlos Sainz Jr.

“I had no idea at two or three years of age that my dad was a rally driver and he was doing doughnuts around the world.”

“You can imagine the long process and what you need to do as a driver to extract the maximum out of the car, what you need to do as a driver talking to the team about what you need, but what also the team can do for you to make that happen.”

“When you drive it is you, the car and your performance on track that counts. That is why I do it.”

“When there's a rule that you can use only three engines for the whole season, and you are a team that is not worried about 2018, you are worried about being world champions in 2020, you need to make progress.”

“The day you perform at the highest level you need your car to be best of the rest.”

“You never stop learning in F1. It's the typical thing that all drivers say, but it's absolutely true. But also, apart from driving, you learn a bit about the political side of F1. People don't realise how much there is outside the car.”

“Having two teams with the same engine and being used to being really close to each other which is the case with Red Bull and Toro Rosso, I think we can do a big step forward if we work together and there's a good relationship between the teams.”

“My Dad has given me a lot of advice, but this advice comes especially from the attitude point of view. He's never told me how to drive a car, how to do a corner, nothing like that. He believe this comes from the talent. You are born with it or you are not born with it.”

“There is clearly this gene inside me or this thing inside me that I've always had in my blood. I don't know, but since very little I've always wanted to be in racing cars, and that was without knowing who my dad was and what he was doing for a living.”

“Politics is something that is bigger than many people would think and you just need to learn how to deal with them and how to accept it and how to treat them. I think that from when you are 10 years old and you look at F1 and don't realise it's there and then it is.”

“This feels like a new start for me because it is my first two-year deal, a long-term project in F1. People sometimes underestimate how important that is for a driver to perform. To have that confidence, that support, that mutual trust.”

“Everyone on the grid gets nervous before a Formula 1 race. It's just how you manage it. It's impossible not to be a bit nervous before a Formula 1 start or even before a World Series start. You have nerves. The thing is, you know how to control them.”

“My recommendation is to try and do the best you can in go-karting to be spotted by a big name like Red Bull or Ferrari. And like that you have a chance. If not, nowadays it's very difficult. It's always been, but these days, even more.”

“When I jumped in a go-kart at three or four, with my friends, I was super fast without anyone really teaching me.”

“I find it incredibly annoying going to every race to finish seventh, or even fifth.”

“I think the people that need to see my talent are seeing it, people who understand F1 well are valuing my performance.”

“As a driver, it's very important to feel at home and feel that the team wants you. I've always felt at McLaren it was pretty much love at first sight since we started talking.”

“In an F1 team at the end you have your little family and I feel that Red Bull is definitely mine and my place to be at the moment.”

“I do try rallying. I do like rallying a lot. We have a rally car there in the countryside in Madrid. And everytime I'm there, I just jump in and have some fun. I really like rallying.”