Carlos Sainz makes his opinion clear on the “favorites” for next season’s Las Vegas GP
Ferrari F1 driver Carlos Sainz picked his future team Williams F1 as a favorite to win the Las Vegas Grand Prix next year. The Spanish driver will start the 2024 edition of the race in Sin City from the front row alongside George Russell.
The main race on Saturday night would present an opportunity for the 30-year-old to notch up another win in the 2024 season and end his tenure with the Italian team on a high.
However, in the post-race press conference, Carlos Sainz was asked which teams he believed could be favorites in the 2025 edition of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Spaniard wasted no time and stated his pick:
"Yeah, I hope Williams comes as a favourite. But no, I think Ferrari and McLaren are favorites for next year. Max, you always need to count him as a favorite. And then if Merc discovers why they won three races in a row and why they're on pole here, they're going to be favorites also. I think it just shows that it could go anywhere.
"When you have four teams within two-tenths and they have a whole winter to work on the car and improve the car, those two-tenths could quickly switch around and create a different favorite. So all four teams for me could be in the fight."
Carlos Sainz reflects on his chances of winning the Las Vegas GP
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz stated that he believed that the race on Saturday night would not be 'won or lost' heading into Turn 1 given the multiple overtaking opportunities throughout the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
In the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix last year, F1 fans were treated to an overtaking fest with drivers making the pass on various corners of the track, including the massive 2km Strip. Sainz told the media:
"I think the race is not won or lost in Turn 1. At the same time, I feel like this year there's more grip in Turn 1 than there was last year. So, yeah, let's see. The thing with Vegas is we might wake up tomorrow and the track might be completely dirty again like it was in FP3 and we're only doing laps to the grid, but we are not passing through Turn 1."
Carlos Sainz spoke about his chances of winning the race this year starting from P2 and said:
"I think tomorrow we should have the pace to fight for the win. At the same time, there's too many unknowns to confirm or deny that but I'm confident that we can fight for a win."
The four-time race winner only has three races and one Sprint remaining in his tenure with Ferrari and would hope to notch up another win before he makes his move to Williams next year, which would be fighting in the midfield.