Williams Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz has backed his father’s potential bid to run for the presidency of global motorsport governing body, the FIA, Afrosport reports.
Sainz Sr has been touted as a rival candidate to incumbent president Mohammed Ben Sulayem ahead of the FIA elections in Uzbekistan in December.
There have been concerns about a possible conflict of interest should Sainz Sr be FIA president and his son races in F1 but Sainz Jr revealed his father had not made up his mind yet whether to run.
He also stated that his father would give up managing his racing career if he chose to contest.
“He has started considering it and he’s obviously going to evaluate his options and his candidature and his possibilities,” Sainz Jr said ahead of this weekend’s F1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
“It’s a possibility. It’s not that he’s going to present himself for sure, or to go for a candidature.
“He’s just considering it. To be honest, it has not come much from him – it’s come from a lot of people in the paddock, suggesting it to him and putting the idea in his head.”
He added: “My dad and me, we would part ways, he would not be my manager anymore.
“I’m a 30-year-old Formula One driver that also has him as manager and my cousin and we would just simply stop.
“Whoever knows my dad, or me personally, knows we would never do anything that would mean a conflict of interest.”
Feliz día papá, gracias por ser mi mejor ejemplo!
@CSainz_oficial pic.twitter.com/lOFkKh4pWX
— Carlos Sainz (@Carlossainz55) March 19, 2025
Sainz Jr joined Williams from Ferrari for the 2025 F1 season and is currently 13th in the drivers’ championship, scoring points in three of six races.
