Signing a contract with Ferrari? I was still in my pyjamas, Sainz describes with humour

Carlos Sainz is in his third season with Ferrari, having joined the Maranello-based stable in 2021. However, he signed his contract before the 2020 season started in July due to the then Covid-19 pandemic. And as Sainz reveals in the latest episode of the P1 with Matt & Tommy podcast, he signed with Ferrari wearing his pyjamas.

Spanish driver Carlos Sainz has been in Formula 1 since 2015, when he was then a Red Bull academy driver for the Torro Rosso team. Notably, his teammate was Max Verstappen.

He spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons at Renault, but then moved to McLaren for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. In fact, he formed a driving duo with Lando Norris at the British stable.

In his second year at McLaren, however, he received an offer from Ferrari. Before the start of the season, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, he had a guaranteed place at Ferrari for 2021.

In the P1 with Matt & Tommy podcast, Sainz describes what was going through his mind before he signed with Ferrari and how the whole thing actually went down.

It should be added, these matters are usually handled primarily by the driver’s manager. But it was a little different then.

I had plenty of time, I signed the contract in my pyjamas!

The Spanish pilot explains that he had a lot of time to think because of the Covid-19 pandemic, so he was able to get involved in the negotiations.

“Well, when they offered me the contract, we were in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic. So we were all stuck at home. I had plenty of time to think about it. I spent two months at home and that’s when we had all the negotiations with Ferrari,” Sainz admitted in the aforementioned podcast.

And he said he still remembers the signing of the contract vividly as a McLaren driver at the time.”It happened on Monday at nine o’clock. I woke up, I was still in my pyjamas, and I signed the contract. It all happened so quickly, but it was great,” Sainz says of his humorous story.

But as he concludes, there was virtually nothing he could do about his emotions. At the time, he couldn’t tell anyone, couldn’t celebrate. It was, he says, simply great news at a bad time.

Source: F1, P1 with Matt & Tommy