Sainz: Fans "can laugh as much they want" about Ferrari move
Carlos Sainz says fans making jokes about his move to Ferrari for 2021 “can laugh as much as they want” and that he finds their ideas “pretty funny”.
Current McLaren driver Sainz will join Ferrari next season after agreeing a two-year deal back in May, replacing four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Ferrari is currently enduring a difficult season that sees it lie sixth in the constructors' championship, falling back from 2019 title rival Mercedes and behind the leading midfield teams.
This includes McLaren, Sainz's current team, which sits third in the standings, 32 points clear of Ferrari.
It has led to questions about Sainz's decision to leave McLaren, and a number of memes being created on social media making fun of the upcoming move.
But Sainz said he is laughing off the jokes that are put his way, and that he enjoys some of the humorous creations fans make about F1 drivers online.
"Honestly, they can laugh as much as they want," Sainz told Motorsport.com. "I think they are actually pretty funny, some of [the jokes].
"People have a lot of free time and they come up with these very funny ideas. And I actually laugh also.
"When the jokes are about me or the jokes are about the drivers, I'm the first one to laugh and I actually enjoy them.
"It doesn't mean that they are right or wrong, it's just they're funny. I guess that's what they pretend to be, so good on them."
Sainz has always stressed he feels no fear in moving to Ferrari, where he will partner two-time grand prix winner Charles Leclerc from next year.
Until the final race of the 2020 season, Sainz remains committed to helping McLaren to try and win the midfield fight for third place in the constructors' championship ahead of Racing Point and Renault.
Sainz's focus on this year is such that he is yet to find a place to live in Italy for when he moves to Ferrari, preferring to focus his energies on his current team.
"My team mainly, more than me, is trying to find a place," Sainz said. "As you know I'm still focused on my season this year.
"But as soon as the season is over and I'm thinking to next year, I will move to Italy when I find it convenient."
Related video
Seidl: F1 doesn't need invitational races or gimmicks
COVID restrictions making new-track work harder for F1 teams
Why the lack of "needle" between Red Bull and Ferrari in F1 2022 is a mirage
OPINION: The fight for the 2022 Formula 1 world titles between Red Bull and Ferrari so far features little of the public animosity that developed between the former and Mercedes last year. But that isn’t to say things are full on friendly or won’t get much worse very quickly…
The underdog F1 squad that thrust Senna into the limelight
The Toleman TG184 was the car that could, according to legend, have given Ayrton Senna his first F1 win but for Alain Prost and Jacky Ickx at Monaco in 1984. That could be stretching the boundaries of the truth a little, but as STUART CODLING explains, the team's greatest legacy was in giving the Brazilian prodigy passed over by bigger outfits an opportunity
Why Aston Martin is unlikely to repeat Jaguar’s F1 mistakes
Two famous manufacturer teams born out of humble midfield origins, splashing the cash while attempting to rise to the top of F1 in record time. There are clear parallels between Lawrence Stroll’s Aston Martin and the doomed Jaguar Racing project of 22 years ago, but Mark Gallagher believes struggling Aston can avoid a similar fate.
How rejuvenated Haas recovered its F1 mojo
US-owned but until recently Russian-backed, Haas seems to have reached a turning point in car performance after three gruesome seasons. And it needs to if it’s to attract fresh investment. Team boss Gunther Steiner tells Oleg Karpov how close Haas came to the abyss.
How F1 race leaders have now lost their comfort blanket
As Formula 1 teams have settled down in understanding the new generation of cars and the way they need to maximise their performance, fresh lessons have emerged. Jonathan Noble investigates how they have brought with them an all-new kind of grand prix racing
Gilles Villeneuve's 10 greatest F1 drives
Formula 1 lost one of its brightest stars when Gilles Villeneuve was killed during practice for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix. Forty years on, Motorsport.com picks out the greatest drives by a Ferrari legend
The silver lining of Ferrari’s Miami GP defeat
OPINION: Much was made of Formula 1’s first Miami Grand Prix – what turned out to be a very ‘marmite’ event for both those in attendance and everyone following on TV. But even as the on-track battle between Red Bull and Ferrari it produced continued the negative run of results for the red team, it contained a glimmer it must hope continues to shine
How imperfect Miami offered F1's drivers a unique challenge
OPINION: Despite all of the stylistic embellishments festooning Formula 1's inaugural Miami Grand Prix, the Miami International Autodrome offered the drivers a unique challenge and punished driver errors; a stark contrast to the usual cast of modern-day circuits