Carlos Sainz Jr. reveals intriguing detail behind his father's FIA president nomination
Carlos Sainz Jr. has revealed that his father was not even interested in contesting for the FIA president's position, but a lot of people from the paddock have encouraged him to take the step. The revelation comes a few days after the motorsport legend announced that he was considering running for the position of FIA president.
Carlos Sainz Sr. is a motorsport icon in his own right. A two-time world champion in rallying, he has been a name that is looked at with high regard in Spain for his contribution to motorsport. His interest in the position comes at a time when the elections for the position of the FIA president are imminent.
The position has been under scrutiny for a while, ever since Mohammad Ben Sulayem took over at the end of 2021. Since then, there have been far too many controversies about the steps taken by the FIA president, and it has led to backlash from different motorsports as well as F1.
This is precisely why, when Sainz Sr.'s name popped up as a possible candidate, it received a lot of positive attention from different members of the F1 paddock. As it turns out, it does appear that quite a few in the paddock have played a role in encouraging the Spaniard to take up the role.
Talking to Sky Sports, Carlos Sainz Jr. revealed an intriguing detail where he shared that the suggestion came from the people in the paddock:
"First of all, it's a possibility, it's not that he's going to present himself for sure, or he's going to become a candidate. He's just considering it. To be honest, it also didn't come much from him. It came from a lot of people in the paddock suggesting it to him and putting the idea in his head, and he started considering it."
"He's going to obviously evaluate his options, his candidature and his possibilities. I can only say from being his son and being obviously a big fan of his, I think he fits very well the profile. I think no one understands better motorsport than my dad across so many ranges, from rallying, to go-karting - because he came with me to all the go-kart races - to all the single-seater ladder, to Formula 1 now."
Carlos Sainz Jr. shrugs off suggestions of conflict of interest
One of the issues that has caught the eye of many is the potential conflict of interest that could arise with the Williams driver competing in a sport where the governing body is led by his father. Carlos Sainz Jr. shrugged off these suggestions (via Crash):
"Very simply because my dad and me, we would part ways. He would not be my manager anymore. I'm a 30-year-old Formula 1 driver that also has his manager, my cousin. We would just simply stop. Whoever knows my dad or knows me personally, knows we would never do anything that would mean conflict of interest.”
Whether Carlos Sainz Sr. does run for the position of the FIA president or not, one thing is quite clear which is the fact that there are going to be quite a few things going on in the background when it comes to the election in the governing body.