A lot of complicity, laughter, beers and a shared objective: to win the World Cup in 2023. It is the summary of yesterday’s visit from MotoGP Champion, Marc Márquezand the Ferrari driver in Formula 1, Carlos Sainzto the Estrella Galicia Museum (MEGA), where they looked back to remember their first years with the beer company, analyzed last season and revealed their goals for the new course. The challenge: reach the top. “My goal is to be as prepared as possible. The obligation is to fight for the world”, indicated Márquez, who is still working on the recovery from his right arm injury, for which he underwent surgery four times.
Sainz’s plan is very similar, to win the championship: “I see it close and far at the same time. I see it close because I am in one of the best teams in the world, but we are in a time in Formula 1 in which there is a high level. I will put the intention and desire. 2022 was a very important year and I am sure that next year I will be a better driver”.
“2022 was a very important year and I am sure that next year I will be a better driver”
In front of media from all over Spain and accompanied by the CEO of Estrella Galicia, Ignacio Rivera, the two pilots thanked the support of the beer company, which has seen them grow closely. Estrella Galicia has sponsored Márquez for 12 years, while he has been with Carlos Sainz for nine years. “We want to transmit the values of the brand, which are to grow together. We are friends,” Rivera said. A relationship that “goes beyond sponsorship”, according to the pilots.
Ignacio Rivera predicts that 2023 will be a “good season” because “Marc is already like a bull and Ferrari is going to be a clear candidate.” The CEO of Estrella Galicia confessed to having fulfilled “a sleep” when the MotoGP rider became champion, so he hopes to repeat the same victory alongside Sainz. “We are going to get it shortly,” he said. That optimism is also shared by the Madrid driver.
“The goal for next year is to have a lot more high peaks and fewer low peaks, so that we can have a more linear and consistent season.”
“There are many good things about this season, like my first pole position and my first victory, but there were also very hard moments, with very high peaks and very low peaks. The goal for next year is to have a lot more high peaks and fewer low peaks, so that we can have a more linear and consistent season. Lots of points and few dropouts. The purpose is the regularity”, analyzed the Formula 1 driver, Charles Leclerc’s colleague at Ferrari, who recalled that he already knows what it is to win races and now he wants to do it “more often”. “But you have to be regular,” he insisted. In addition, Ferrari will have a new director after the departure of Mattia Binotto: Fred Vasseur. “It is a change that we hope will be for the better. I trust him. I know him because at the time of Renault he wanted to sign me. He is going to do well, ”he analyzed.
Márquez still has work to do to reach one hundred percent in the new season, and not only because of his injury, but also because of his motorcycle. “I am not going to say anything new, the Valencia test did not go as expected, but I trust Honda and in the whole team. They are giving everything”, explained the driver from Cervera, who believes that the key is to “have perseverance and rhythm in the race”. “My DNA is to take risks,” he recalled.
on the hunt for talent
“I am not a visionary,” Ignacio Rivera clarified when asked about how he captures the talent, since Estrella Galicia has sponsored Márquez and Sainz since its inception. “You have to surround yourself with honest people and good people. You have to allow them to be wrong and live your purpose. They both have those values. They are great people”, declared the CEO of the beer company about the two pilots, who demonstrated on the MEGA stage their complicity. “Now we are almost neighbors,” said Sainz, who challenged Márquez to “play paddle tennis and go karts.” These days they also shared a sofa to watch the World Cup matches.
“You have to surround yourself with honest people and good people. You have to allow them to be wrong and live your purpose. They both have those values. They are great people”
The drivers also talked about talent and how they recognize it on the track. “It is something that has to be discovered. I detect it in the personality, I see something different in the look”, explained Marc Márquez, who tries to help “some young kid”. That is also Sainz’s purpose, to help those who are new, but perhaps in the future since the 24 races in the championship do not leave him time for much: “As I grow as an athlete, I would like to help kids.”
What they are clear about now is that they want to compete and do your best to reach the top. “I like to run and travel the world. Formula 1 is the sport that I like the most and that I have been in love with since I was a little boy”, said Sainz wearing his Ferrari jersey. Márquez will have to face a new format with sprint races. “We will have to adapt to it but, honestly, we are there to race. The more races and more adrenaline, the better”, concluded the MotoGP rider, who was shown, like Sainz, photos from years ago with Estrella Galicia.
