Ferrari has said goodbye to Sainz Jr by letting his dad drive his F1 car

Ferrari has said goodbye to Carlos Sainz Jr as the Spaniard gets ready to join Williams after four years in red, and the Scuderia made sure his final farewell was a proper family affair.

Rather than the usual office whip-round for a thoroughly whelming leaving gift, Ferrari decided to break out two 2022 F1-75s so that Sainz Jr could share the Fiorano circuit with his father. How very sweet.

Unless you’ve been living under one of the particularly large rocks that litter the Dakar Rally stages, you’ll know that Sainz Jr’s father is rally raid legend Carlos Sainz Sr, and Ferrari says that “although he spun the car, Senior soon found his rhythm, completing several runs doing consistent lap times”. Well, if Fernando Alonso is still doing it at 43 years of age, perhaps 62-year-old Sainz Sr has a shot at a seat next season?

We’re told that Sainz Sr was allowed a few laps of Fiorano on his own to warm up, before his son joined him on track for a few parade laps in formation. We can’t confirm whether it descended into a proper head-to-head soon after, but we can’t help but think the student would have wanted to prove that he’s now the master.

Anyway, after the F1-75s the Sainz duo were given the keys to the 735 LM that Piero Taruffi drove in the Mille Miglia. The same car was also driven at Le Mans by Harry Schell and Maurice Trintignant, and was built in 1955 – a perfect tribute given Sainz Jr’s race number.

There’s a glimpse at the farewell day on the Scuderia Ferrari Instagram account, but be warned: it is extremely wholesome.