Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris have full praise for Carlos Sainz and agree that he is not underrated, as Toto Wolff gives his view.
Despite the accolades that Sainz has had under his belt, the Spaniard isn’t hyped as much as most of his teammates have been. Whether it was Max Verstappen or Norris or even Leclerc, the F1 race winner mostly remained in the shadows despite the performances.
So much so that he now has no contract beyond the 2024 F1 season after Ferrari elected to replace him with Lewis Hamilton. In the last two seasons, the Spaniard is the only one to win races and beat Red Bull, but he doesn’t have a seat as yet.
His former teammates Leclerc and Norris are full of praise, though. The Monegasque believes he already has team bosses talking with him, while the Brit states that there is no reason for anyone to think that Sainz is underrated.
“I think everybody knows Carlos’ worth in the paddock,” said Leclerc. “He’s one of the highest-rated drivers in the paddock. And he’s been extremely strong every time he was in a Formula 1 car. And he has showed it multiple times. So I don’t think he’s underrated for that. I think everybody knows Carlos’ worth.
“And that’s why I’ve said many times that I’m not too worried about his future, because I’m sure that many, many team principals are… He doesn’t say it, but for sure they are speaking with him! And I’m sure he will have many opportunities and he’ll just have to make the best choice for his career,” summed up Leclerc.
Meanwhile, Norris added: “I think Charles put it well, to be honest. If anyone thinks he’s… Yeah, there’s no reason anyone should think he’s underrated. I think for the people who know him, know what he’s capable of doing, know his effort level, his approach and dedication to wanting to be one of the best, exactly like he proved in Australia, and over the last couple of weeks.
“I’m sure you have plenty of drivers who probably wouldn’t have tried as hard and dedicated so much of their time and effort to trying to recover and get back in the race car. And I think that’s just one example of it. But for the people who know what he’s capable of doing, you would never ever say he’s underrated.
“And yeah, of course, results are always a bit of a point to show and people on the outside just easily judge things from what you see on TV. But when you’ve worked with him, when you know what he’s capable of doing, and when things click, they click very well and he has performances like he does. And I would say all year, he’s proved to be a step up from maybe what he has been last year. Yeah, you’re silly if you underrate him.”
Sainz was happy after hearing the kind words from his ‘best teammates’ Leclerc and Norris. The Spaniard doesn’t feel underrated by the people in the paddock, but understands it is the case in the media. He doesn’t know if Australia win helped him, but it didn’t harm.
“I guess I agree here with my two favourite team-mates,” laughs Sainz. “There are some kind words there, but I agree with them. I think people that know me or have shared a team with me or people that have worked with me, know me and I don’t feel underrated by people that know about this sport.
“Then other people that maybe don’t have an insight and don’t know as much about this sport, if they want to underrate me, I’m fine with that. I don’t care honestly, but I care about the people that know the sport well and about my team-mates, the people that have seen my data, seen how I work, seen my speed, and that’s the thing I care about, and I don’t feel underrated by them.
“As for the win in Australia, for sure, it does no harm. That is 100%. But yeah, I’m still without a job for next year. So I guess this is going to help it. And yeah, I don’t know. I think everyone knows more or less what I’m capable of doing. I do race for myself. I race to keep proving to myself that I can win whenever I get a competitive car and whenever there’s an opportunity to win in a weekend.
“I don’t race to prove to team principals or to prove to people my value. I race to prove to myself that if I’m given a car, I can get it done and I can be up there, you know, and that’s the mentality and the approach that I have and I will keep having the rest of the year.”
There was also praise from Mercedes chief Toto Wolff, who is on the lookout for Hamilton’s replacement for 2025. Apart from Sainz, the Austrian felt good for his friend and rival Frederic Vasseur more, where he recalled a story from last year to 2024.
“I’m happy for Ferrari,” said Wolff. “I’m happy for Fred. He deserves that. Last year, we were flying together and on the flight, Dubai to Melbourne in Emirates, he a disc that jumped out and he couldn’t sit or sleep, and he was standing in the aeroplane for 13 hours. Then one of his cars crashed out and the other one finished before, and it looked disastrous.
“He had the pressure for all of Italy and now he’s had a 1-2. As much as I hate our situation, he deserves that. And Ferrari deserves that. And Italy deserves it. And Carlos deserves it, after the not only the the appendix, but also basically being told ‘You’re not here anymore’. And bang! You can see what some human power can do when it needs to.”
Here’s Christian Horner on Carlos Sainz
Here’s Frederic Vasseur on improvements Ferrari has made
Here’s Frederic Vasseur on Ferrari doing well on tracks like Las Vegas
Here’s Carlos Sainz on all about Australian GP win
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