The father of Carlos Sainz, the Ferrari driver poised to leave the team, has openly expressed his concerns regarding his son’s career trajectory in Formula 1. Currently, Sainz is experiencing an outstanding run of form, overshadowing his teammate Charles Leclerc, who from 2025 will team up with Sainz’s successor, Lewis Hamilton.
Former F1 racer Vitaly Petrov suggests, “I think because he is leaving Ferrari, he has become more relaxed. I think Carlos is very motivated to show the excellent speed he is showing in order to get the best offer for next year.”
Amid speculations of a potential misstep in choosing to retain Leclerc over Sainz to partner with Hamilton, Ferrari’s chief Frederic Vasseur has attempted to quell such notions. Asked about Leclerc’s performance, Vasseur told AS, a Spanish newspaper, “There are no conclusions to be drawn. Charles is a fighter and you can’t be happy if your teammate is ahead, but he only finished a tenth from the second row (in qualifying), which is not a disaster. It’s not like he’s wrong by half a second.”
Leclerc himself has identified his challenges, stating, “That’s kind of strange because until now I’ve never had to focus on qualifying because that was one of our strengths. But it’s not the performance itself that’s wrong – it’s just warming up the tyres that has been giving me trouble lately.”
The 29-year-old Sainz is reportedly in talks with several top teams including Red Bull and Mercedes, and possibly with Audi’s Sauber. He was quoted by Spanish media saying, “People already know how available I am and how fast I am. It’s a shame not to continue next year taking into account how good we are with Ferrari, with the mechanics and engineers. It makes me a little angry. On the other hand, it is true that it opens doors for me to go to another team to fight for the world championship, which we have been working on for three or four years at Ferrari. Now is the time to make important decisions – to know what options there are.”
Carlos Sainz Snr., while participating in the Trans-Iberian rally in Portugal, reflected on his son’s situation: “He is very strong, yes, but at the moment we are still not clear about what is going to happen with his future. That is what worries me the most. At least Carlos is sending many very good messages and we hope they have an effect.”
When probed about Ferrari’s decision to favor Leclerc over his son, Sainz Snr. diplomatically responded, “Logically it was not my decision and I do not think I am the right person to appropriately comment on that either.”
GMM
