©McLaren
Carlos Sainz started calling himself a "smooth operator" last summer, but why exactly did the Spaniard choose the title of the famous Sade song as his tagline?
It all started at this year's Hungarian Grand Prix, when a productive P5 finish at the Hungaroring incited Sainz to belt out a few notes from Sade's hit over the radio on his cool-down lap.
From there on, the mania took off, much to Sainz's complete surprise.
"I just started hearing it on the radio, and apparently it is quite a bit famous song," Sainz told Motorsport.com.
"After the race I sang this song, without knowing what a smooth operator was. Then people in the team started telling me what was a smooth operator.
"And then I realised, well, maybe I can attribute myself that and start creating a bit of a joke around me.
"But uh, I didn’t sing it because I considered myself a smooth operator, because I didn’t know what a Smooth Operator was."
Judging by his fans' comments on Youtube, the moniker was well chosen.
And Sainz has looked through the YouTube comments regarding his “smooth operator” persona.
"Yeah, very funny that," he said.
"I went through them, and there are some really funny comments, like this comment: "we are here because of Carlos". And you see 1000 likes!"
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
The F1 machinery at his disposal this season is clearly lagging, but the self-belief fueling…
Kimi Antonelli attracts attention wherever he goes in Formula 1, but this week it was…
They say that when one door closes, a window opens – or in George Russell’s…
On this day in 1976, Niki Lauda's charge to the world championship title continued unabated…
The Formula 1 paddock has a habit of turning yesterday’s junior rivalries into today’s front-line…
Carlos Sainz is waving the white flag in Formula 1’s ongoing rules debate, but not…