Carlos Sainz on the emotional pull of racing at home in Madrid
For Carlos Sainz, this weekend is not just a home race. It is a race in the city where his career began.
"Very special," he said of racing not just on home soil but in the city where he grew up, "taking my first steps as a karting driver."
He expects it to be "emotional," he added, though he is going to try and enjoy it as much as possible.
The car underneath him, though, is unlikely to cooperate. "It is no secret it is still going to be a struggle for us," he said. "If you look at the layout, it could not be a worse layout for our car."
That struggle has defined much of Sainz's season at Williams, and he was candid about where things stand.
"I still believe in the team, that this is a bump in the road," he said. "I think we are honestly - what we have learned this year, so many lessons, what we got wrong. This bump will help us change fundamentally things that will help us in the future. But we need to bounce back next year."
"It has been a bigger bump than expected, and for sure it is not what we expected."
He was quick to praise the venue itself, layout troubles aside. "I think it is going to be super interesting, and with the weather we have here and the facilities, it is an ideal location for F1."
Sainz was also asked about the situation unfolding at his former team, with Ferrari accused of both favouring one driver over the other and letting Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc race each other too freely.
"I can tell you when you have two competitive team mates, these situations will happen," he said. "Me with Charles, two or three times a year we would have a discussion - or argument - and then call a few days later and sort it out. When I was there, we always sorted it out amongst each other."
Whether Hamilton and Leclerc have done the same remains to be seen.
It was the question of home, though, that drew out his most personal answer, and one that traced a direct line back to the man he grew up idolising.
"When I was 10 years old, I remember telling my Dad I want to be like Fernando Alonso one day," Sainz explained. "For sure, he has been the main driving factor in having a second Spanish driver in F1, but also the growth of motorsport in Spain."
"This is where I would wake up at 4am and knock on my Dad's door and say it is time to wake up and watch the Australian Grand Prix. This is where I went karting. That is why this is so special and so emotional to race here."
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