Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro audio , known as Carlos Sainz Jr. audio or simply Carlos Sainz, (born 1 September 1994) is a Spanish racing driver currently racing in Formula One for McLaren. He is the son of double World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz. His uncle Antonio Sainz was also a rally driver. In 2012 Sainz raced in the British and European Formula 3 championships for Carlin. He raced for DAMS in Formula Renault 3.5 in 2014 winning the championship before moving to F1 with Toro Rosso. In 2017 it was announced that for the 2018 season he will race for the Renault F1 team on a season long loan, whilst still contracted to Red Bull Racing. An early fulfilment of this arrangement was announced during the 2017 Japanese Grand Prix weekend; Sainz would take Jolyon Palmer's Renault seat beginning with the 2017 United States Grand Prix, before moving to McLaren for the 2019 season, to replace retired Fernando Alonso. At the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix Sainz took his maiden Formula One podium finish with third.

Career

Karting

Born in Madrid, Sainz began his career in karting.