Sainz reveals sporting idol he would be nervous meeting

Ian Parkes
Sunday 18 September 2022 14:28

Carlos Sainz has revealed there is one sporting figure that would make him nervous should he have the opportunity to meet his idol.

As a keen golfer, with the Ferrari driver playing off a respectable 10 handicap, Sainz has grown up watching and learning from his all-time hero, Tiger Woods.

While Sainz has naturally met many sports personalities over the years, especially since arriving in F1 in 2015, he knows it is Woods who would unsettle him should a dream come true in the future.

Explaining the reasons why in an interview with The New York Times, Sainz said: "It is the aura he has around him, the charisma. He is a guy that changed the history of his sport completely.

"For me, I always look up to people that create a point in the history of their sport that changes that sport forever, and Tiger is the one that, for me, changed his sport the most of any other athlete in the world.

"Even now, you can just see he creates something around him every time he walks around a golf course that no-one can explain, and everyone wants him to win.

"After all the polemics he has been through, 99 per cent of people still want Tiger to win. Tell me an athlete that has this aura. No one.

"For me, it's a case study because it's something super interesting how someone can create so much charisma that everyone wants you to win, even if you've made a lot of mistakes.

"I find him a very interesting character that hopefully one day I'll be able to meet because he's a great hero."

As to how that meeting would go, Sainz added: "He's the only guy that I think I would be nervous meeting.

"It sounds strange that I say that. I've met Rafael Nadal, I met Michael Schumacher back in the day, and many, many others, but Tiger I think would impress me."

Despite his love of golf, Sainz does not believe he would have turned professional if had chosen a path away from motor racing.

"I would've tried other sports but I wouldn't have made it because I believe that you are born to do something," assessed Sainz.

"I was born to do racing, to be good at racing, and then maybe, if I would've been a professional golfer, I doubt God would have given me two good talents.

"He gave me the talent for racing, which I need to maximise as much as possible. I use it as much as I can, it's done me well and I'm doing pretty well so far."