Politics is something that is bigger than many people would

The words of Carlos Sainz Jr. — “Politics is something that is bigger than many people would think and you just need to learn how to deal with them and how to accept it and how to treat them. I think that from when you are 10 years old and you look at F1 and don’t realise it’s there and then it is.” — reveal the hidden weight behind the glitter of sport. To the child who gazes upon Formula 1, the world appears simple: speed, glory, the roar of engines. But as the boy becomes a man, he learns that beneath the spectacle lies a world of politics — alliances, rivalries, decisions not of speed alone but of power. His words are the wisdom of experience, the awakening of innocence into reality.

In these words is the eternal lesson that every arena of life, even those that seem pure, is touched by the currents of politics. Whether on the battlefield, in the palace, or on the race circuit, human ambition weaves webs of influence. To accept this is not to surrender, but to acknowledge the nature of the game. To treat politics rightly is to master it, to navigate its hidden turns with patience and wisdom, lest one be undone not by failure of skill, but by failure of understanding.

History gives us many mirrors. Consider the Olympics of ancient Greece: to the spectator, they were contests of athletic might, yet behind them lurked the shadow of city-states vying for pride and dominance. Victors carried not only crowns of olive but the honor of their polis, and decisions about who competed and who triumphed were never free from the weight of politics. What the boy saw as a race was, in truth, also the struggle of nations.

Sainz’s reflection speaks, too, of maturity. At ten years old, a child sees only the surface, the glory, the dream. At twenty, at thirty, he learns that every dream carries hidden burdens. To accept politics is to grow, to understand that power shapes outcomes as much as talent. Yet the wise do not despair — they learn to move within it, to keep their craft pure even as they acknowledge the forces that surround it.

Let future generations remember: whether in sport, in art, or in nations, politics will always be present, shaping destinies unseen. Do not be deceived by appearances, nor crushed by disillusionment. Instead, learn as Sainz did — to see it, to accept it, and to master it. For the world is never only what we first behold; it is also what lies beneath, and greatness belongs to those who can steer through both the visible race and the hidden game.