Last Updated on January 4 2024, 12:03 pm

Over the next seven weeks the Formula One teams will reveal something resembling their car which will compete during 2024 and have completed pre-season testing in Sakhir. The first Grand Prix of the year in Bahrain will be upon us and the weekend will unusually start on Thursday morning as Ramadan has been taken into the scheduling considerations.

Ferrari will have announced both the contract extensions to their driver’s contracts given comments made by team boss Fred Vassseur at the festive gathering in Maranello. Asked whether there would be news on Carlos Sainz contract before January, Vasseur replied: “Before race one, yes”.

 

 

 

Sainz makes his demands known

Both Ferrari driver contracts are spat the end of 2024 and Carlos Sainz who is often perceived as the less favoured son made his demands clear mid summer when he told assembled media: “I’m not going to lie, I don’t like going into my last year of a contract without really knowing where I’m racing the next year.”

“I went through that process both with Red Bull and Renault, and I know it’s not ideal as an athlete, and as a driver. It’s just not the right thing. And that’s why I have put this winter as a reference to try and figure out my future.  

“My priority, and my main goal, is to win one day with Ferrari. And I think I’ve made that clear, very, very often. And that’s why I will give my priority to them this winter. “

“If not, it will also be time to look elsewhere. But that’s my priority and what I want to sort out in the winter.”

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Ferrari pairing ‘well balanced’

Sainz clearly speaks from what he believes to be a position of strength threatening he will decide his own future if Ferrari fail to meet his timeline and his results have proven he is worthy of similar treatment to his team mate.

The Spaniard claimed the only non Red Bull race win in 2023 and finished the season a credible six points behind Leclerc and it could have been even closer had he not suffered in Las Vegas where his car was severely damaged 8 minutes into the first practice session from a loose manhole cover. Sainz was then given a grid drop for the race and started 11 places behind his team mate on pole and despite a solid recovery drive lost ten points to Leclerc in the final classified standings.

One of the other metrics of interest was the lap time differential between the Ferrari team mates and while Leclerc qualified ahead of Sainz 14-8, the time difference was marginal. Further, Leclerc is more prone to big offs in his pursuit of the perfect lap whereas his team mate is more consistent as the points table demonstrates.

Yet the recent news from the Italian media suggesting Charles Leclerc is to get a five year extension to his current deal while Sainz is offered a 1+1 contract on serves to cement the impression the future team will be built around their Monegasque driver.

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Vasseur protests too much

When asked whether both his drivers were long term assets to Ferrari, Vasseur dodged the question as follows. “We showed this season we have more than equal treatment between the drivers.”

When Vasseur was announced as team principal a year ago, much was made of the fact that he had already established a great relationship with Leclerc during their time together art Sauber and he references this in his next comment.

“I remember perfectly one year ago in the same room that I had tons of questions about Charles number one and Carlos number two and ‘blah blah’ and ‘blah blah’.

“Singapore [where Sainz won] was the best example when Charles agreed to start with soft [tyres] to jump [George] Russell and block Russell and when we asked Charles to slow down Russell he did it. But it meant they did a very good job together.

“It’s not that we had a number one, a bigger asset, or not – but two drivers that are doing a good job,” concluded the Ferrari boss.

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Both ‘good assets’

Yet should the imminent Ferrari driver contract announcements treat Sainz significantly different from Leclerc, the reality is Vasseur’s attempts to claim both are equal are meaningless.

Ferrari have probably the most complimentary driver pairing on the grid at present and Vasseur is desperate to portray the team treats them with parity.

“Carlos was more than strong when he came back after the summer break, he had a very good sequence with Monza, Singapore and so on and it’s probably also part of the good results of Charles at the end of the season to have this kind of positive emulation.

“I will continue in this direction, but I don’t want to have one good asset and another one not a good asset.

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True equality to be revealed in contract value

“We have two cars, two drivers, and one of the good points of the season is that they scored almost the same number of points.

“I will consider this last year in the same way, to give them exactly the same level of opportunity and the same freedom or the same approach in the strategy of the race.”

Yet the reality of the ‘equality’ Vasseur talks about is resoundingly transparent when their individual and separate value is revealed in terms of the new contracts.

Sainz clearly wants a more lucrative and longer term deal from his comments and looks happy to commit to Ferrari. In fact to is Leclerc who should be wary that his F1 career is not defined by 11 years with the iconic Italian squad who have won no titles since 2007.

Ferrari need Leclerc more than he needs Ferrari and in trying to tie down the services of the Monegasque for such an extended period, the team makes if difficult to believe his team mate is in fact “equal” which could see Carlos Sainz agreeing to move on for 2025.

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