Carlos Sainz is putting head down and looking ahead for 24 F1 races with Ferrari, while keeping the emotional moments for the end.
Sainz was taken aback when Ferrari decided to not renew his contract for F1 2025 and beyond, as the Italian manufacturer decided to opt for Lewis Hamilton in place of him. The Spaniard was expected a new deal but things changed quickly and he was left off.
In fact, he states he was gearing up for a fresh deal until October and November, but things started to change as Ferrari saw the opportunity to take Hamilton in and they took it. “Funnily enough my future was decided before the first race, I was not going to continue with Ferrari,” said Sainz to media in the press conference.
“Obviously, it came, as I said, unexpectedly, and I was looking forward to sign a new contract with them, and everything looked to be in the right path to go that way, but in the end, it didn’t happen, as you guys know. And yeah, obviously, the situation has changed completely to what I thought we were in October, November last year.
“The situation now is completely different. I am basically a free agent for 2025, and I have no idea yet where I’m going to be racing with, so I have to take my time to decide, as I said before, see all the options that are available, and try to pick the best option for me, not only for 2025, but what’s the best option for me for the next three or four years, that I feel like I’m going to do my absolute best to put together a winning project in F1, and see who gives me that best chance,” summed up Sainz.
Interestingly, the Spaniard has admitted that it will be an emotional end to his Ferrari journey considering the relation he has built. But to start off, he will keep that side away to concentrate on the 24 races and do the absolute best he can.
“On the emotional side, to be honest, still not a lot because there’s 24 races ahead of us and I guess, for sure, the last couple of races or the last race will be emotional, especially because I’m really behind a great group of people that work very well alongside,” said Sainz. “I’ve met some very good human beings in Ferrari and I’ve also met a lot of people around the world that have made me feel at home right from the beginning.
“So we will leave that emotional part more towards the end of the year. Until then, it’s obviously head down and try to do the best possible job for this team for the last year. I know for Fred and company that they’re going to give me good support, that if we are in that championship flight this year, we’re going to pushflat out to achieve it together and have a nice last year together.
“The future is long, plenty of years in my career ahead of me, so let’s see what the future takes,” summed up Sainz. While the Spaniard’s one journey will come to an end in 2024, one of it already ended at the end of 2023 that with his longtime trainer Rupert Manwaring, who has jumped ship to be the new trainer of Max Verstappen.
“We’ve been eight years together, working together, it’s been honestly a pleasure to work with Rupert,” noted Sainz. “We’ve had an exceptional time together. We felt like it was time to move on, our lives were becoming obviously different, and him being in the UK, me being more in Italy, and I’m Spanish, it was time to change paths, and I wish him the best, and I’m sure Max is going to enjoy the time with him.”
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