Carlos Sainz Jr Takes On Real Madrid Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois In Gaming Battle

After an extremely successful first season with Scuderia Ferrari, Carlos Sainz Jr appears to be thoroughly enjoying his winter break, before pre-season testing kicks-off at the end of the month.

Sainz who is a massive fan of Spanish footballing giants Real Madrid C.F, recently visited the club’s training ground to take on Real Madrid and Belgium Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, at FIFA 22 and more importantly the F1 2021 video game.

Courtois is no stranger to the F1 video games, the Belgian was a regular figure in the F1 Virtual Grand Prix Series during the Coronavirus pandemic. Sainz on the other hand is a keen FIFA player during his down-time, and recently took on Courtois’ team-mate Marco Asensio.

Real Madrid hold a huge piece of Sainz’s heart, the Spaniard was made an honorary member by the club in March 2021, the highest distinction awarded by the club. The pair’s collaboration was filmed and recently uploaded to Real Madrid’s official YouTube page, which you can find by clicking the video at the bottom of this article!

In the video the pair first battled it out on the F1 2021 game using of course a sim-rig, Sainz and Courtois were tasked with seeing who could set the fastest lap-time on the recently added Jeddah Corniche Circuit, home of course to the new for 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Whilst Courtois has plenty of experience behind a sim, it would come as no surprise that Sainz was fastest with a 1:29.385, compared to Courtois’ respectable 1:30.978.

It was then over to FIFA 22 where both athletes played as Real Madrid, however with the added twist of it being a ‘no rules’ match, anything was allowed! It was the Real Madrid goalkeeper who took an early lead after a beautiful finesse shot into the bottom-right corner, making it 1-0 to Courtois. Sainz almost instantly replied had it not been for a great save from well, Courtois! The Spaniard was rewarded early in the second-half though with a well drilled low half-volley which found its way underneath Courtois’ keeper, making the score 1-1.

Courtois was clearly beginning to wonder if he would lose at both games, however the Belgian restored his lead with a great passing move, resulting in a first-time finesse shot with nestled into the bottom-right corner giving Courtois a 2-1 lead on the seventy-sixth minute. The Belgian went on to miss two huge chances late on to put the game out of reach for Sainz, who himself went close to levelling the game in the dying seconds! It was Courtois though who just held on to his 2-1 lead, meaning that both athletes won at their professional sport, seems about right really! You can watch the full video for yourself below: