Carlando

GENERAL

Formula 1

Person 1	Person 2
Carlos Sainz Jr.	Lando Norris

Canonical?

Fanon

Status of Relationship

Close Friends/Friendly Rivals

IN FANDOM

Type (?)

Slash

Also Known As

455, Muppet Friends

Tropes

• Heterosexual Life Partners
• Red Oni, Blue Oni
• First-Name Basis
• Affectionate Nickname
• Chosen Family
• Friendly Rivalry

1

❝

To my muppet friend. Fun, fast, hard worker, but most importantly, a great guy, See you on the track!

— Carlos's written message to Lando

Carlando is the slash ship between Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris from the Formula 1 fandom.

Canon[]

Both Carlos and Lando are Formula 1 drivers, Lando has been a F1 driver since 2019, meanwhile Carlos since 2015 debuting in Toro Rosso. The two were both announced in 2018 to drive for McLaren for the 2019 season. When Lando made his debut for McLaren Formula 1, he met Carlos especially as his teammate for that year was Carlos. The pairing quickly established a friendship between each other which their interactions with one another became popular in media. They remained teammates throughout the 2019 and 2020 Formula 1 seasons, with the latter being the season where both drivers earned their first Formula 1 podiums.

Carlos switched teams in 2021 to drive for Scuderia Ferrari, replacing the outgoing Sebastien Vettel. However, this did not disrupt their friendship. In this season, both drivers managed to secure a front-row lockout at the Russian Grand Prix. Before the transfer, Lando was asked if he would miss Carlos, Lando said he wouldn't miss Carlos as they would still be seeing each other in races. The two exchanged helmets with messages. 2 years later, and with both drivers staying with their respective teams, Carlos and Lando would co-operate on track together to claim a 1-2 podium at the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix. Although not not apart of the same team, the two still hang out outside Formula 1 activities such as in other sports like golf.

Before and after the race in a few clips the two would tease each other by slapping one another seen in interviews. Many of videos of the duo were uploaded by McLaren's YouTube channel, they would be doing popular trends such as looking up popular questions asked by the internet or trying out international snacks. But as well some moments of the two are seen in Season 2 of 'Drive to Survive', an F1 documentary on Netflix. Popular clips in 'Carlando moments' videos would be Carlos urging Lando to eat seafood as Lando despises seafood. Other notable interactions between the two would be Carlos teaching Lando Spanish.

Moments[]

Early tweets from 2012 when Lando was 13 replying to a then 17 year-old Carlos resurfaced.
- The most liked of these tweet was when Lando tweeted out: "good to see u leading the championship, did u test BMW when you were 12 or 13". ^[1]
In the Singapore 2023 GP, both Lando and Carlos were apart of the podium, with Carlos being 1st and Lando being 2nd.
- Carlos's victory and Lando's placement disrupted Red Bull's perfect win streak as well as Max Verstappen's.
- Carlos also posted on his Instagram after the win with the caption "CARLANDOOOO 1-2!".
Carlos in many videos would be teaching Lando Spanish.
On Lando's YouTube channel he posted '24 Hours at the Ryder Cup' where Carlos made an appearance.
Carlos supported Lando on Instagram when he made his relationship public with a former girlfriend.
In an interview during the 2023 season, Lando has stated that when he gets his first win, he would like to share the podium with Carlos in second place so he can look down on him for the first time. ^[2]
After the 2024 Miami GP, Carlos congratulated Lando for this first win captioned "CONGRATS CABRÓN!"

Quotes[]

“To Carlos, aka muppet. I thank you for the incredibly fun enjoyable moments. I will remember these two years forever, one day I will beat you in golf, until then see you on track. Adios!”

— Lando's message to Carlos

“Amigo Lando! It’s been such a pleasure to work with you my muppet friend. Cant wait to keep pushing on and off track, and, of course keep having fun and enjoying our sport!”

— Carlos' farewell message to Lando (posted on Twitter/X) when he left McLaren in 2020.

“Like my relationship with Lando has improved stopped being teammates because everything it's just a bit easier. I mean we had a lot of fun as teammates, we were getting on very well, but you were still teammates and you were sharing the same car. You want to beat each other but since I left McLaren it's like we can openly speak about more about racing and feelings and you know we don't have that teammate thing in front of us, but yeah he's a great guy. I just enjoy a lot of his company.”

— Carlos speaking about his relationship with Lando after McLaren departure

“Perfect weekend! Come on! A bit of Carlando action there also to protect from the Mercs.”

— Carlos' radio after winning the Singapore GP 2023 by tactically 'working' together with Lando, allowing him to pick up DRS to stay ahead of the Mercs.

Fanon[]

Carlando is arguably the first ship in Formula 1 to become popular. Fans dubbed the pairing 'Carlando' and it has since gone on to become an inside joke recognized by the drivers, teams and even media. The friendship between the two is treated with respect and platonically, with any romantic insinuations being used for comedic effect. It's one of the most popular ships in Formula 1. This duo currently rivals against Landoscar, another popular Lando friendship as Oscar is currently Lando's teammate in McLaren.

Moreover, fans often joke about Lando being an 'honorary Sainz' as due to his friendship with Carlos, he's very well-liked with his family members such as his dad (Carlos Sainz Sr.) and his cousin/manager (Carlos Onoro). Lando's seen playing golf with Carlos' family, as well as being invited to his manager's wedding in 2022. Before winning the British Competition Driver of the Year award, he went shopping with Carlos and his then-girlfriend to pick out some shirts, further proving his closeness to the family. ^[3]

Fandom[]

FAN FICTION: Carlos/Lando tag on AO3; Carlos & Lando tag on AO3

INSTAGRAM: carlandocontent hashtag on Instagram

TWITTER: carlando hashtag on Twitter

Lists[]

Fandometrics
10th	SEPT 18th 2023

Trivia[]

Lando is the one who came up with the name between him and Carlos.
In Carlos's cousin's wedding Lando was invited to the ceremony where he was DJ'ing.
Carlando was listed as McLaren's favorite moments in 'Drive to Survive'. ^[4]
While filming for an Amazon advertisement with McLaren, Carlos refers to their friendship as "Batman and Robin" and that they need to go together. ^[5]
When Carlos announced his departure from McLaren, Lando commented "Soy lago" (I'm a lake).
- Confused, Carlos revealed in an interview that Lando zoomed called Carlos saying he was emotional relating the Spanish word lake to a lake of tears.
During quarantine, Lando named a squirrel that would often show up to his house 'Carlos', calling it 'his best friend'. ^[6]
Carlos' mom often likes 'Carlando' tweets, in both Spanish and English, on her twitter account. ^[7]