What is Carlos Sainz's driving style?
It is a Smooth Understeer driving style. This is why.
Carlos Sainz is known as being a smooth operator at the wheel. His ability to carry lots of speed through corners and save tyres is a key feature of his driving style. In terms of Carlos’ car setup preference, he likes a strong rear end and a bit of understeer. As Charles Leclerc said in an interview, “Carlos always likes to be a bit more on the understeer (side)”.
This understeer is more stable and allows Sainz to push the car more with the confidence of a strong rear end. With a strong rear end, he prefers to induce the rotation himself as the car doesn’t like to rotate naturally. This was seen in his telemetry data from the 2024 Hungarian GP. Carlos brakes deeper into the corner and gets onto the throttle earlier than Leclerc, using the pedals to manipulate the weight transfer.