F1 legend Carlos Sainz on cheeseburgers, cars and karting

The Atlassian Williams F1 team has competed in 868 Grands Prix, racked up 3,780 team points, 114 first place finishes, 245 podiums and eight world championships. Pretty impressive results, and almost certainly a factor in Carlos Sainz’s decision to join the team in 2026.

The F1 driver talks data and pole positions — but not always in the way you might imagine. These stats are cheeseburger-related, and secreted away in a top secret excel spreadsheet listing his all-time favourite cheeseburgers, where he ate them and when.

“I have rankings listing the best cheeseburgers I’ve eaten around the world,” he reveals during a pre-practice chat at the Bahrain F1 in Malaysia.

“I’d have to consult my spreadsheet to check what’s currently P1, but I’ve had amazing ones in Austin, New York and Spain, and the UK has great cheeseburgers, too. Maybe one day I’ll reveal my spreadsheet to the world.”

It turns out chatting to the racing star is just as wild as sitting in his passenger seat.

Carlos's unexpected ride

Burger hierarchies are not the only surprising thing I learn about Carlos Sainz, famous for having one of the world’s most spectacular collections of Ferraris, including many bespoke and limited-edition models. But if you spot him in Monaco, where he lives with his Scottish girlfriend Rebecca Donaldson, he’s almost certainly going to be behind the wheel of his beloved two-person electric FIA Topolino car.

“It was a present given to my girlfriend and I,” reveals Carlos, who reveals that it has a somewhat unusual paint job.

“It’s got the full Scottish look, with a tartan roof and a bright red paint job. I wasn’t sure if I was bold enough to drive it, but now I love it. It feels like a moped – you just jump in and go. You can park it anywhere.”

He points out that his pint-sized car gets almost as much attention as he does, if only because those who spot the cherry-red car are shocked when they see the driver.

“When I’m driving one of the Ferraris in Monaco, people almost expect it to be me. The Fiat Topolino isn’t the type of car people expect to see me driving, so I’ll get a lot of people taking pictures of the car before they realise it’s me,” says Sainz.

His car collection also includes the Golf GTI which was an eighteenth birthday present from his parents, and he’s about to take delivery of a new Ferrari — he keeps the details close to his chest but admits it’s a model he first fell in love with when driving for the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team. I sense his first love will always be Italian supercars, and that asking him to choose a favourite is similar to asking a parent to choose their favourite child but risk the question anyway.

“It’s probably the Ferrari Daytona, which is probably one of the best cars ever made, or the Ferrari 812 Competizione, which was a gift to myself when I joined Ferrari F1,” says Sainz.

Karting history

Karting is still a big part of his life too, and he’s the co-founder of the CS55 karting brand.

“CS55 was about trying to give back to karting. I still get to kart two or three times a year, and it’s a side of racing which still holds the best memories of my life,” says Sainz.

He also admits he enjoys dabbling in business, and has invested in the Backspin Games gaming platform and TMRW Sports, a sports and entertainment venture founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. He clearly takes these investments incredibly seriously. “I’m getting more interested in business and investing. I’ve been reading a lot of books about it, trying to learn about that side of things.”

His investment in sporting ventures is hardly surprising, given that Carlos, whose father, Carlos Sainz Sr, is a four-time Dakar Rally champ and WRC legend, was always going to be involved with sports in one way or another. “If I wasn’t an F1 driver, I would have tried to be another type of athlete. I’ve always loved golf and tennis, but I don’t think I had the talent to succeed,” says Sainz.

I’m admittedly sceptical given his sporting prowess, and as someone who’s clearly done incredibly well in his chosen discipline, what are his top tips for success?

“I think the most important thing is not to rely on motivation. What happens with a lot of athletes is that they get massive peaks of motivation. They’ll go to the gym and start to feel better and they’ll feel motivated, but that drifts away with time. I always recommend learning to rely on discipline, not motivation. 90 per cent of the time I love training. But there are occasional moments when I hate training, and I don’t want to go to the gym. And that’s when a lot of people simply won’t go.”

That motivation and positivity has undoubtedly stood him in good stead over the past year, when technical problems have plagued the Atlassian Williams F1 team, which turns 50 in 2027. “Everyone knows we’ve had a tough year, but I’m excited to see the changes we’re making, and the reactions to them, and how we bounce back.” And I for one have no doubt that his cheeseburger-fuelled speed machine will be a big part of this legendary team’s comeback. Watch this space.