Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro (; born 1 September 1994), commonly known as Carlos Sainz Jr., is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Williams. Sainz has won Formula One Grands Prix across 12 seasons.

Born in Madrid, Sainz is the son of two-time World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz. Graduating from karting to junior formulae in 2010, Sainz won his first championship at the Formula Renault NEC in 2011 with Koiranen, finishing runner-up to Robin Frijns in the Eurocup that year. In 2012, Sainz contested British Formula 3, the Formula 3 Euro Series and FIA European Formula 3 with Carlin. Sainz progressed to the GP3 Series with Arden in 2013, finishing tenth in his rookie season. He then found success in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, winning the championship in 2014 with DAMS.

A member of the Red Bull Junior Team since 2010, Sainz signed with Toro Rosso in , debuting alongside Max Verstappen. He remained at Toro Rosso until the 2017 United States Grand Prix, where he replaced Jolyon Palmer at Renault, having already signed with the team from onwards. Sainz moved to McLaren in , ending his association with Red Bull. He took his maiden podium at the that year, followed by another at the in . Sainz signed for Ferrari in , replacing Sebastian Vettel to partner Charles Leclerc. After a winless debut season for Ferrari, Sainz took his maiden pole position and win at the in . He took further wins for Ferrari at Singapore in , as well as Australia and Mexico City in . Replaced by Lewis Hamilton for , Sainz joined Williams to partner Alexander Albon, claiming two podiums at the and the Qatar Grand Prix.

As of the , Sainz has achieved race wins, pole positions, fastest laps and podiums in Formula One. Sainz is contracted to remain at Williams until at least the end of the 2027 season.

Early life Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro was born on 1 September 1994 in Madrid, Spain, to mother Reyes Vázquez de Castro and father Carlos Sainz. His father is a rally driver, who won the World Rally Championship twice in and , with 26 rally victories. Sainz Jr. was mentored by his father throughout his journey to F1.

In 2016, Sainz was named Ambassador of María de Villota's Legacy, as he was coached by her at driving school in Madrid. He has spoken about how he was personally affected by her death in 2013, and he has kept a star on his helmet since 2014 in honor of her.

Junior racing career Karting Sainz started his career in karting in 2006, after participating in smaller series, in 2008, he won the Asia-Pacific KF3 title, as well as finishing runner-up in the Spanish Championship. In 2009, he also won the Junior Monaco Kart Cup, and was runner-up in the European KF3 Championship. While at driving school in Madrid, he was coached by María de Villota.

Formula BMW

Sainz raced in Formula BMW Europe in 2010 with the EuroInternational team. He was also part of the Red Bull Junior Team programme. He made his Formula BMW debut during a guest drive in the Formula BMW Pacific series at Sepang, Malaysia where he was ineligible to score points as a guest driver. However, he placed second in the opening race in Malaysia. That debut was followed by a fourth place. The following race day, he retired from the first race but won the second race. He finished seventh in the following race. He missed the next race in China but returned to Singapore. He finished sixth in the first race and second in the second race. He missed the Japanese races but returned to win the season finale in Macau. Overall, in nine races he achieved three pole positions, two wins, and two fastest laps.

In Formula BMW Europe, Sainz started his career with a podium position of third and sixth place at the Circuit de Catalunya. At Zandvoort, he took fifth and second place. At Valencia, he scored seventh and tenth place. A weekend at Silverstone saw him take third place and a victory in the following race, his first that season. Hockenheim saw him take 11th and sixth place. A fourth and a podium position of third. Robin Frijns was on a charge, scoring a podium position in every race but three, two of which he finished in fourth. A double retirement at Spa put him out of championship contention. An eighth and sixth at the season finale at Monza followed. He finished the season fourth with 227 points.

Sainz also competed in the UK Formula Renault Winter Cup, finishing sixth in the first race and retiring from the second race at Snetterton.

Formula Three During the 2012 season, Sainz raced in both British and Euro Series Formula 3 championships. Racing for Carlin, he won four races, finished nine times on the podium, as well as scoring a pole position in the British championship, finishing sixth overall in the final championship standings. He scored two podiums and two pole positions in the Euro Series championship, finishing in ninth position overall.

GP3 Series In 2013, Sainz completed for MW Arden in the GP3 series. He finished tenth in the championship with 66 points and achieved two podium finishes.

Formula Renault 3.5

Sainz raced in Formula Renault 3.5 for the first time in 2013. However, he missed several races in his first season most likely due to his commitment towards GP3. In Monaco, he finished sixth place, most probably due to a challenging start to his GP3 season. He then experienced a double retirement in Spa. He also missed the races in Moscow and Austria. However, he made a comeback in Hungary, securing a seventh-place finish in Race 1. In Race 2, he faced several issues and finished in 22nd place. In France, at the Circuit de Paul Ricard, he had another double retirement. In the last race weekend of the year in Catalunya, he retired in race 1 but managed to score sixth place.

In 2014, Sainz switched teams to DAMS. In the season opener at Monza, he finished 18th in the first race but won the second. He left Monza with 25 points, beating his previous seasons' score by three points. Another win at Aragon meant he doubled his score and in race 2, he finished in fourth. Another fourth place followed at the one race in Monaco. The weekend at Spa followed with another two wins. Moscow followed. 14th and sixth meant that he only took eight points from a possible 50. At the Nürburgring GP Circuit, he won race 1 but in race 2, he retired. In Hungary, he was no match for Roberto Merhi who led by half a minute from the rest of the field in the wet. Another sixth place followed in race 2. In France, he won and scored a total of 50 points to extend his championship lead over Merhi.

Formula One career

Sainz became part of the Red Bull Junior Team in 2010. His first experience in a Formula One car came at the young drivers' test at Silverstone Circuit in July 2013, where he drove both the Toro Rosso STR8 and the Red Bull RB9. Sainz confirmed that discussions had taken place with the struggling Caterham team for a race debut during the season but, ultimately, no agreement was reached. As a reward for his Formula Renault 3.5 Series title, Sainz drove the Red Bull RB10 in the post-season test after the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Toro Rosso (2015–2017) 2015

Sainz drove for Scuderia Toro Rosso in the season where he partnered Max Verstappen, following Daniil Kvyat's promotion to Red Bull. Sainz selected 55 as his race number. He qualified inside the top ten for his debut, the , and finished the race in ninth position. He scored points again at the , but failed to score at the after spinning and then retired from the with a wheel issue. He qualified fifth at the , his highest grid position of the year, and finished the race ninth. He was forced to start the from the pit lane after failing to attend the weigh-bridge during qualifying. He recovered to tenth place in the race.

Four consecutive retirements began with electrical failures at the Austrian and British Grands Prix, then a fuel pressure issue at the and a power unit issue at the . A 150 km/h and 46 g impact into the barriers during practice for the resulted in Sainz spending the night in hospital. He missed qualifying but was declared fit to race, however he failed to finish after a brake failure. He crashed in qualifying for the and started from last place, but gained ten positions on the first lap and went on to record his best finish of the year with seventh place. Sainz finished his debut season fifteenth in the Drivers' Championship, scoring 18 points to teammate Verstappen's 49.

2016

Toro Rosso retained Sainz and Verstappen for the championship. Sainz qualified seventh and finished ninth at the season-opening , but retired from the due to a collision with Sergio Pérez. After the , Sainz gained a new teammate in Daniil Kvyat as Verstappen was promoted to Red Bull. Three points finishes followed for Sainz, including his best career finish with sixth place at the and a drive from twentieth to ninth place at the . After a suspension-related retirement at the , Sainz recorded three consecutive eighth-place finishes.

A run of six races without points followed, including retirement due to a puncture at the and a first-lap collision with Nico Hülkenberg at the having started sixth. Sainz equalled his best race result at the with sixth place and scored the same result at the after starting fifteenth. He retired from the season-ending due to a collision with Jolyon Palmer. Sainz ended the season twelfth in the Drivers' Championship, scoring 46 of Toro Rosso's 63 points.

2017

Sainz and Kvyat remained with Toro Rosso for the season. Sainz scored points in the opening two races, but a collision with Lance Stroll eliminated him from the . Both drivers blamed each other for the incident, but Sainz was handed a grid penalty for the next race. Three points finishes followed including sixth place at the . Sainz was again handed a grid penalty for a first-lap collision with Romain Grosjean and Felipe Massa at the . Sainz spun on the first lap of the , attempting to avoid a collision with teammate Kvyat, and recovered to finish eighth.

Prior to the , Sainz commented that it was "unlikely" he would remain with Toro Rosso for a fourth year. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner rejected this, stating that Sainz would race for Toro Rosso in . Sainz retired from the Austrian Grand Prix with an engine problem and was eliminated on the first lap of the after a collision with Kvyat. Prior to the it was announced that Sainz would join Renault for 2018, on loan from Red Bull. He finished the race in a career-best fourth place, in what he described as his "best day in Formula One". He was joined at Toro Rosso by Pierre Gasly for the after Kvyat was dropped by the team. Sainz retired from the race due to an engine problem. He crashed in practice for the and again on the opening lap of the race. At this stage of the season, Sainz had scored 48 of Toro Rosso's 52 points.

Renault (2017–2018) 2017

Sainz's move to Renault was brought forward and he replaced Jolyon Palmer and partnered Nico Hülkenberg at the team for the final four races of 2017, beginning with the where he started and finished seventh. Sainz made his way from eighth to fifth place on the first lap of the but then spun and had to pit for new tyres. He later retired from the race with steering problems. He failed to finish the season-ending after he was released from a pit stop with a loose wheel. Sainz ended the 2017 season ninth in the Drivers' Championship, scoring 54 points.

2018