Carlos Sainz cherishes Charles Leclerc road trip: 'One of those adventures that you will remember'

Carlos Sainz has spoken about the impromptu road trip he and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc were forced to take after the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. 

After celebrating his first podium finish with Williams, the Spanish driver was hoping to return home as normal that same evening. But storms in Nice meant that he and Leclerc, along with the Monegasque driver's friends, Joris Trouche and Antoine Truchet, had their flight diverted to Italy. 

Sainz, who then drove the group of four back to Monaco in a rental van, explained that while it was a frustrating situation, it led to memories that he will look back on when he is old.

"Bit hectic landing in an airport so late, having to rent a van, having to jump in a van with all the bags and having to drive back home for a couple of hours," Sainz explained during an event for Hackett London.

"But in the end, I was reflecting on it, we were very frustrated because we really wanted to land in Nice and [have a] 20-minute drive, but then you think about it and you say these are the kind of days that you remember.

"If we would have landed in Nice and we would have just taken the normal 20-minute home taxi or whatever, we would never remember that day or that moment. But it's those little adventures that you will remember when you are older."

Leclerc initially shared a video of the group as they embarked on their unexpected road trip.

"So, after a difficult weekend in Baku, I thought it couldn't get any worse, but..." Leclerc said as he showed the dark road ahead of them.

"We are driving a van!" Sainz said. "In the middle of Italy," he said when asked where they were. "We were diverted for a storm, we couldn't land in Nice, so we landed in the middle of Italy. We rented a van, and now we are on our way to Monaco.

"A two-hour drive, and we will make it in one hour and a half," he joked.

Reports later emerged on social media of a near miss between two planes at Nice Côte d'Azur Airport, where Sainz and Leclerc had been planning to land. An easyJet flight was moments away from taking off when a Nouvelair flight started to land on the wrong runway, narrowly missing the easyJet plane. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.