Carlos Sainz and Ferrari – he has already shown them

Even before the start of the season it was clear: Carlos Sainz would have to leave Ferrari at the end of the season. He makes way for Lewis Hamilton. But the Spaniard is not going down without a fight.

It was surprising news before the start of the season: Lewis Hamilton, the world record champion of Formula 1, the ruler of the past decade, is moving to Ferrari for the 2025 season after twelve seasons at Mercedes. The most statistically successful driver and most successful team in Formula 1 history join forces. The news had a huge impact and dominated the headlines.

But in the shadow of the glory of the record world champion and his future new team, one fate was almost overlooked: that of Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard will have to give up his place at Ferrari for Hamilton at the end of the year. There was no room for the Spaniard next to the young star Charles Leclerc and world record champion Hamilton.

Even before the start of the season it was clear: Sainz’s dismissal could not be due to his sporting success. He is considered one of the most consistent drivers in the field, but he had no chance against the charisma of seven-time world champion Hamilton. However, after the announcement of the driver change, Sainz is currently on a high and, according to the results, is the best non-Red Bull driver of the season – better than Hamilton. Has Ferrari made a big mistake?

Ferrari’s fate befell Sainz a few years ago. He drove the 2018 season for the French racing team Renault. But because Daniel Ricciardo, multiple race winner and Formula 1 superstar, was available, Sainz was shown the door after more than a year.

But the Spaniard returned: Sainz joined McLaren. The move to the former top team, which was in deep crisis at the time, was seen as a step backwards for the career. But Sainz’s two years with the British racing team turned out to be a success story, which brought the Spaniard his first podium finish – and piqued Ferrari’s interest in first place.

At the Scuderia, Sainz became Charles Leclerc’s teammate from 2021. The young Monegasque has been considered one of the best young drivers in the world for years and is considered a future world champion. He came to Ferrari in 2019, where he beat four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.

To prevent a conflict between the emerging talent and the proud world champion, the Italians decided to sideline the old German. Leclerc was given a long-term contract and replaced by Vettel and Sainz, who was supposed to strengthen the team as the number two reliable behind Leclerc.

Sainz delivered and sometimes didn’t even stick to the script: the real class difference between him and Leclerc was only visible in the 2022 season, when Leclerc was runner-up and Sainz finished the season in fifth place, 62 points behind. However, he still met expectations at the time and scored enough points to secure second place for Ferrari in the team standings.

The rest of the time he even performed at the same level as Leclerc. Sainz finished his first season in 2021 in front of the Monegasque, and in 2023 he will have to go back with a small difference of six points. In addition, only one race last year was not won by one of the Red Bull drivers. Singapore Grand Prix winner: Carlos Sainz.

Ferrari’s image in recent years has always been the same: Although Leclerc was difficult to beat in his prime, he often acted inconsistently and made too many mistakes. Sainz is quite different: He drove regularly at a good level, but mostly without big wow moments – at least until now.

Because being fired from Ferrari seems to encourage Sainz rather than depress him. In the season opener in Bahrain and the final race in Japan, he finished third behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez. The highlight, however: the Australian Grand Prix, where Sainz took advantage of Verstappen’s failure to win the race in style – and in pain. He had missed the race in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago due to an additional operation.