Carlos Sainz makes his feelings known about Lewis Hamilton replacing him at Ferrari
Carlos Sainz recently expressed his feelings towards Lewis Hamilton replacing him at Ferrari. The seven-time world champion would soon leave Mercedes to join the Italian giants in 2025.
Sainz has been in Ferrari since 2021, racing alongside Charles Leclerc. In the first season itself, Sainz outscored Leclerc in the points table. In the latter years, however, Leclerc usually had the upper hand in the championship. Before the 2024 F1 season, the news of Lewis Hamilton replacing Carlos Sainz on the Italian team from 2025 emerged.
Speaking on the F1 Beyond the Grid podcast, he said that though he was furious with the move at first, he gradually understood why Lewis Hamilton was chosen to replace him. He said that the reason why he understood and moved on was because he was being replaced by a seven-time world champion. He praised Hamilton for being one of the greatest to have ever graced the F1 circuit.
“I understood it almost right from the beginning. I think if it would have been someone else, I would have taken a lot more longer to understand. But when you understand Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion and one of the best – if not the best in history – is going to replace you as Ferrari. And Lewis has decided to do his last part of his career in Ferrari, and that you need to be one of the two drivers sacrificed for that to happen – I understand,” Sainz said at 17:16.
Sainz also touched on why Ferrari was never going to replace Charles Leclerc. This was because the Monegasque has been the team's wonderkid and they have been trying to create the entire team around him.
“I also understand why it was never going to be Charles. Charles has been the project of Ferrari ever since he’s been a junior driver,” he added.
Carlos Sainz remains tight-lipped about the conversation between him and Ferrari seniors after Lewis Hamilton's announcement
Carlos Sainz talked about how he had a chat with Ferrari seniors like team principal Fred Vasseur and chairman John Elkann but did not spill any details about the conversation.
Speaking on the F1 Beyond the Grid podcast, he was asked whether he was leaving the team on good terms, to which he replied positively. He explained how he clearly expressed his initial feelings with Vasseur and Elkann. However, he promised them that he would continue to contribute to Ferrari's success in his last year with them.
"Yeah, 100%. Even with Fred, with John Elkann, with everyone involved in that decision. I called them, I expressed my feelings about it. I have always said this is what I think, the same way I told them I understood it and I explained my feelings. I'm not going to tell you what I have said, that's something I am never going to say," Sainz said at 18:29.
"I promised them that I was going to give my absolute best for Ferrari even after all this has happened after last year," he added.
After leaving Ferrari, Carlos Sainz will join Williams F1 team from the 2025 F1 season.