Scuderia Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc Show What Pre-Season Training Means

That includes the off-season, too. Besides their regular physical exercises with personal trainers, drivers do more activities to stay in shape.

But, if you were wondering what pre-season training looks like, we’ve got you. Actually, the Scuderia Ferrari drivers, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc do. They both shared glimpses of their lives in between seasons.

Both Leclerc and Sainz document their lives with frequent videos on YouTube and update their fans on what the life of an F1 driver is like.

Carlos Sainz

The son of Carlos Sainz Jr, a double World Rally Champion, Carlos Sainz Jr began his career in karting. He later moved on to Formula BMW, then Formula 3. Sainz Jr. made his debut in Formula 1 in 2015 at Toro Rosso.

Since then, the 28-year-old driver also raced for Renault and McLaren, joining Scuderia Ferrari in 2021.

In 2022, he finished fifth in the Drivers' Championship, with 246 points, and won the Silverstone Grand Prix.

Sainz premiered episode 1 of Season Four of his YouTube vlog series Don't Blink on Wednesday, March 1. There, he showed his 300k+ subscribers what pre-season training looks like.

Sainz shared a detailed look at what the break is for a Formula 1 driver, and, spoiler alert, it doesn't involve just chilling on the couch with their favorite Netflix series or the last season of Drive to Survive.

Starting in January, a few weeks after the end of the 2022 F1 Season, Carlos was back on track. Not behind the wheel of a race car, but of go-karts in Franciacorta, a racetrack in Italy, near Milan.

He took fellow Spanish racing driver Roberto Merhi out on the track, and they raced each other. They were on the track for a couple of days in Tony Karts, trying to beat each other's record. It didn't take long for Carlos to take the lead, with a record of 6.8, just 0.1 faster than Merhi. They were even faster the next day.

They also visited the Tony Kart factory, with Sainz reminiscing about the beginning of his career with karting.

After that was over, there were more intense physical activities that they could do. So, they went skiing in Urtijëi, a city in northern Italy, part of the Dolomites mountain chain.

Besides skiing, pre-season training obviously includes some weight training, healthy food, but also gelato.

During the off-season break, Carlos Sainz Jr. also received his first Ferrari ever, an 812 Competizione he designed himself over a year ago. He proudly introduced it in a video on his YouTube channel.

Charles Leclerc

Now that we’ve seen how the off-season looked like for Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc was also kind enough to share how it went for him.

The Monegasque driver revealed it all way before Sainz, releasing a video showing his pre-season prep in mid-January.

Charles Leclerc also started his career in karting in 2005, a few years before Sainz, although he is three years his junior. The Monegasque driver later moved on to Formula Renault, Formula Three, GP3, and Formula 2.

In 2018, he joined Sauber F1 Team, racing alongside Marcus Ericsson. He replaced 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen at Scuderia Ferrari in 2019. For the 2022 season, Charles Leclerc showed his World Champion potential, winning three races and finishing second with a total of 308 points.

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc get on very well and one can see that, because they have so much in common.

Leclerc's pre-season training also included some skiing in the Dolomites, in the Italian Alps, just like Carlos Sainz'.

During his skiing adventure, Charles Leclerc was joined by Ferrari Hypercar driver Antonio Fuoco and his personal trainer Andrea Ferrari. Leclerc revealed that he goes skiing in Italy every year and he usually does it at the beginning of the year because it's his only time off.

Taking one step further than Sainz, Leclerc also did some rock climbing, despite the snowfall. He was also back in the gym, as usual, with intense training, including cardio and weight lifting.

Unlike Sainz, Leclerc's video also included some snow driving, not with a race car, nor a Ferrari, but actually, an Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, drifting and testing his skills on a different terrain.

Besides that, the 25-year-old driver’s time off included indoor rock climbing, more gym sessions, and more skiing.

It looks like both the Scuderia Ferrari's drivers' training paid off because, during the pre-season testing, they set some competitive times. But they will prove their desire to win starting this Sunday, March 5, in Bahrain, in the first race of the season.