Team Torquing Points: All the Meats, All the Golf

The latest episode of Team Torque had all the right ingredients: food talk, and a deep dive into just how competitive Carlos can get – even on a day off.

In between back-to-back race weekends in Austin and Mexico City, the duo sat down to chat about what really went down in Texas, including their approach to a Texas race-week diet…

Texas is famous for its BBQ, and it seems even the most disciplined F1 drivers can’t resist the lure of smoked meat and mac and cheese.

As the conversation turned to how they’d handled their diets across the US Grand Prix weekend, Alex was the first to admit he’d gone to sample some of the local delicacies.

“Austin diet? Not good,” he laughed. “I had one barbeque. Michelin-rated Texas BBQ – this was on Thursday night. It was good, the sides were good… I actually didn’t order enough! How crazy is that? I thought I should have ordered more.”

Carlos, however, was quick to raise the stakes. “I had BBQ on Saturday night,” he revealed, prompting a disbelieving reaction from his teammate. “Saturday night BBQ?! Jeeeeez.”

But Carlos wasn’t backing down. “On Saturday, I can always recover weight for Sunday,” he reasoned, defending his choice. “It’s still beef! Bit of beef, pork, mac and cheese. You’d normally have a bit of beef and a bit of pasta on a Saturday night, so it’s not that different to what I’m having.”

That opened the door for a full breakdown of the Sainz-approved BBQ order: “Two or three pork ribs, one beef rib, a few slices of brisket, and mac and cheese. Some BBQ sauce – not a lot.”

Alex, naturally, had questions. “Do you get the bread, and make it into a…?” he asked, only to be quickly shut down. “No, I don’t dip.”

“That’s crazy,” Alex laughed. “So me… brisket, sometimes a sausage if I feel crazy. Ribs were sold out by the time I got there, so I had some pulled pork. Now that, in a sandwich, with the BBQ sauce… ooooooohhhh, that’s good.”

Once the Austin weekend wrapped up, Carlos swapped the track for the course, taking full advantage of a free Monday before heading to Mexico.

When Alex asked what he’d done with his downtime, he probably wasn’t expecting quite such a dedicated answer.

“Monday, my girlfriend left for work and I was left alone,” Carlos began. “I saw it as a great chance to make a step in my golf game. So I went to a golf course at 10am… and left at 5pm.”

Alex’s response? Silence. Just a stunned expression.

“I played 27 holes,” Carlos continued. “And in between each nine holes, I was hitting balls on the range, trying something different with my swing. A next-level session.”

Alex could only shake his head: “That’s a very Carlos thing to do.”