Carlos Sainz snubs Lewis Hamilton when naming three drivers who made him fall in love with Formula 1

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Every driver who has reached Formula 1 has a different story to tell and has taken a different route to reach the pinnacle of motorsport.

For Carlos Sainz, he was one of several drivers on the grid who followed a member of their family into the sport.

Although his father never drove in F1, he’s still one of the most feared racers in rallying.

The likes of Max Verstappen and Kevin Magnussen can trace their inspirations back to their dads who also raced in F1.

Speaking to the Formula 1 website, Sainz was asked what made him fall in love with the sport growing up.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz’s life outside F1 from full name, girlfriend and height

The Spaniard has lived out the dream of millions of F1 fans over the years by having the opportunity to race for Ferrari.

Not only that, any driver who stands on the top step of the podium at any race on the calendar will see a sea of red in the crowd cheering them on as Sainz did in Australia earlier this year.

Sainz cited Ferrari’s greatest F1 driver – Michael Schumacher – as one of his reasons for falling in love with the sport.

Although Hamilton raced alongside him and the two other drivers he mentioned – Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen – it’s understandable why he didn’t choose him, bearing in mind the seven-time world champion is the reason he had to look for a new seat for 2025.

Carlos Sainz names a trio of F1 world champions as the reason he fell in love with Formula 1

When the question of what made him fall in love with F1 was posed to Sainz, he said: “Watching Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen battle back in the 2000s.

“That golden era, I think, was incredible for F1.

“Just seeing them, they were my idols when I was ten years old, when they were fighting for championships.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Twenty years ago, Schumacher was in the middle of dominating the sport as he went on to win five championships in a row for Ferrari.

That run was only ended by Alonso at Renault, before Raikkonen secured Ferrari’s last Drivers’ Championship in 2007.

However, the Finn arguably should have never won that title, with Alonso and Hamilton taking too many points off each other that year, denying each of them an additional championship on their CV.

How Carlos Sainz hurt Charles Leclerc at Ferrari last season

Sainz and current teammate Charles Leclerc probably didn’t realise they were battling for one seat at Ferrari beyond 2024.

The pair went into the final race of the season in 2023 not knowing who would come out on top in the Drivers’ Championship.

Ferrari sacrificed the Spaniard’s strategy to try and secure enough points to leapfrog Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship, allowing Leclerc to overtake him in the standings.

SaInz ‘really hurt’ Leclerc though, by winning the Singapore Grand Prix in 2023, and was the only driver to interrupt Red Bull’s winning streak last year.

The likelihood that the 30-year-old will stand on the top step of the podium again beyond this season all depends on Williams’s development and whether he can only another move to a top team in his career.

Otherwise, Sainz’s time in Formula 1 may have already peaked.