Paco Sanchez: “If all you want to do is party, I’m not interested”

In the second part of the interview by SPEEDWEEK.com writer Manuel Pecino, Paco Sanchez, manager of Joan Mir and Raul Fernandez, explains the criteria he uses to select the riders he wants to work with. What it takes to become world champion.

Paco. Do you approach riders you want to work with, or do they approach you? “They always come to me. I never knock on a rider’s door. They always ring me – either themselves, their parents, a friend or a relative. Someone rings me and says: ‘Hey, look, I’ve got this rider and we’d love to work with you.’ I then assess the rider. My aim is always to work out, from my point of view, whether he’s got what it takes to challenge for the world title. If I don’t think he’s got what it takes, I prefer not to work with him.

Money isn’t what drives me. There are loads of riders who’ve offered me a fixed salary to work with them. In my case, the only thing that motivates me is winning. And in fact, 90 per cent of the drivers I’ve worked with throughout my entire career have either been world champions or runners-up. I’ve celebrated more than 24 world championship titles across various disciplines of motorsport, as well as six or seven runner-up titles. Ultimately, we’ve been in the running for the world championship around 30 times – across various disciplines of motorsport. That’s what motivates me. That’s what keeps me working with enthusiasm and travelling with pleasure – despite all the sacrifices.”

What qualities do you analyse before agreeing to represent a driver? “I look at the driver’s background, analyse it, examine his career to date and see what he’s achieved. I look at his potential and analyse something that’s very important to me: his attitude. Why his attitude? Because I have no desire to work with a driver who’s already too self-assured, who shows little enthusiasm for working hard and believes he can rely solely on his natural talent. I believe that a driver – or any champion – must combine three crucial things: the first is innate talent – that’s something you’re born with; you can’t acquire it. The second is hard work: he must be prepared to work hard and make sacrifices. And thirdly, there’s attitude. The mindset that he wants to become world champion and puts this above everything else. If his priorities lie with women, parties, Ibiza, cars and so on, I’m not interested. Because even if he has the talent and the willingness to work, he won’t win. Never. Or he’ll win one title and then fade into the background. So if you combine these three aspects, you’re usually dealing with someone who’ll be in contention for the world title. Whether you win it in the end or not is sometimes a matter of detail, of luck. I’ve finished runner-up many times, and those felt just like a title to me. And then there are championships we’ve won where you say: ‘We were just luckier there, or it just all fell into place. Certain circumstances came together.’

Were there any riders with whom you decided to end the partnership due to differences of opinion about their future? “I’ve never thrown in the towel. But of course, we’ve parted ways with a great many riders in the past. After eight or nine years, for example, we parted ways with Pol Espargaro. With his brother Aleix, things came to an end much earlier. We also decided to go our separate ways with Maverick Viñales after four or five years. And with Toni Elias, we had a discussion about his future. He felt he had to take a certain path; I saw things differently. Ultimately, he went his own way and I went my own way with other riders. But throwing in the towel? No. Never.”

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22.10.2026 - 23:55