Operation Carlos worked. For the Scuderia as for the Sainz, everything went well. The driver found his car marked with the 55 less than two weeks after leaving it in Arabia with young Ollie Bearman (7th). The fault lies in acute appendicitis contracted in Jeddah. Operated on Friday March 8 in the morning, Sainz was already in the paddock the next day, race day, to support his team, show his courage and… begin his treatment.
“The doctors asked me to walk,” he explained Thursday evening. So rather than doing it in the hospital corridors, I preferred to come to the track. » A Sainz cannot be remade. Under the eyes of his father, who also experienced the same misadventure almost 40 years ago, the Ferrari driver detailed the battle plan to race again. “As soon as I got home (on Sunday), the idea was to ride in Melbourne,” insists the Spaniard. To start, limit travel as much as possible before having to inflict the 25-hour plane ride to the Antipodes. No simulator and visit to Maranello. No training either. Only rest.
Foam protection to reduce pain
“At the beginning of last week, I really started to feel better,” continues the valiant convalescent. And every day got better. » Until he can get back into his car, even if it is parked in Australia. The only slight problem is that even with a laparoscopy, a modern operation which consists of incising the abdomen rather than opening it as in the past, there are still after-effects. These three holes which allowed the surgeons to work. This is where Ferrari came into play. As of Thursday morning, Diego Ioverno, the sporting director of the Italian team, went to ask the FIA for authorization to install foam protection on the stomach of his driver in order to alleviate the discomfort or pain caused by the harness buckles.
Even the world champion father contributed to this impressive result for the Spaniard, giving his son his Dakar physio. Operation Carlos has worked perfectly so far. All that remained – a very paternal concern – was to spend the night and see how the pilot – and his scars – would digest the efforts of this first day.
