Last Updated on November 26 2024, 4:50 pm

Carlos Sainz was negotiating a contract extension with Ferrari  back in January following comments from the team boss reported in the Italian media which stated he was happy with his current driver lineup.

Then on January 25th 2024, Charles Leclerc’s multi year extension was announced, but there was silence from Maranello regarding his team mate. Of course behind the scenes Lewis Hamilton had pulled rank on the Scuderia boss having contacted the Ferrari group president, John Elkann.

Just eight days after Leclerc’s new deal was revealed, the bombshell dropped that Lewis Hamilton was leaving his Mercedes family and moving to the scarlet F1 team. And just like that, Carlos Sainz was dropped like a stone.

 

 

 

Ferrari pair evenly matched

In their three previous seasons at Ferrari, Leclerc and Sainz were closely matched with the Spaniard often fairing better when the car was found to be understeering. Yet Leclerc was the ‘chosen one’ having come through the ranks as part of the Scuderia’s academy programme.

His first outing following the Hamilton bombshell was at a karting event where Sainz presented the new CS55 line of karts. “It’s certainly not the best feeling to start the season,” he told Sky Italia. “But the moment I put on the helmet in Bahrain and take to the track, the only sensation I’ll feel will be the desire to go faster and faster – and also aiming for victory in the world championship.”

Sainz handled the media furore over him being replaced by an ageing F1 star well, but this year was all to be about Carlos proving himself against his team mate. Victories in Melbourne and Mexico doubled his Grand Prix win count and Carlos’ diplomatic handling over the Hamilton situation has won him plaudits for his tough on track battles and off track sensitivity.

Carlos did say when the news he was leaving Ferrari had broken, he wouldn’t rule out a return to the Scuderia at some point in the future. Yet should Hamilton see out the two years on his contract, Sainz by that time will be 33 years of age.

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Leclerc has the edge in qualifying

Leclerc has always had the edge over Sainz in qualifying and is leading this season’s intra team battle 13-9, yet the Monegasque at times has over-driven during the Grand Prix, going beyond the mechanical grip his SF-24 has to offer and ending up in the wall.

Sainz has handled himself well despite the complete lack of interest among the front running teams in securing his services. He will head off to the independent Williams team having turned down works outfits owned by Renault and Audi.

Red Bull would have benefitted from Carlos’ services as they surely will be parting company with Sergio Perez. Yet tales of feuding between the fathers of Sainz and Verstappen in their junior days is the only reasonable explanation as to why he was not offered the opportunity.

On the whole the relationship between Leclerc and Sainz has been benign this year, although a coming together in Barcelona between the pair created some temporary friction.

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Ferrari hopes dashed in Vegas

This was all to change in Las Vegas, as Ferrari struggled at a track they expected to dominate. The cold conditions in the desert nightime worked well for Mercedes and the best on offer for one of the Scuderia drivers was a third place podium.

Ferrari appeared to have the better long pace run in practice, but this was to be a false dawn come the race on Saturday night. Leclerc jumped his team mate at the start and set about harrying George Russell for the lead of the race.

This was to become advantage Sainz as his team mate tore through the life of the tyre and was forced to allow his team mate through. The team made errors of judgement over the timing of the pit stop, something Carlos Sainz was vocal about on the radio.

For three laps he insisted he needed his final stop for fresh rubber, yet the team vacillated which created the scenario which was to upset Leclerc greatly. Leclerc ran longer before pitting and was warned on his way out of the pit box, Sainz wold be close to him on track. Further Charles was told his team mate would not attack him so he had time to bring his tyres in gently.

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Sainz disobeys team orders

Two corners later the Spaniard on much warmer tyres flashed by Leclerc who was struggling with a lack of grip. Sainz went on to claim the final podium position, which drew a stream of expletives over team radio from his team mate.

In what seemed a hectic session for Ferrari’s strategy team, mistakes were clearly made which compromised both their drivers. By refusing Carlos’ request to pit the Spaniard lost around two and half seconds of race time and had the team listened to him, both drivers sharing the same piece of asphalt would never have happened.

We’ll never know the ‘agreement’ pre-race, to which Leclerc referred in his radio message but it would most likely be the rules of engagement and the right to the first pit stops. Should Sainz have upset the team by failing to comply with the order to hold station in order to grab one last podium whilst wearing red overalls he may feel it was worth it.

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Has Sainz burned his bridges?

Hamilton will no doubt leave Ferrari before Charles Leclerc, but it wouldn’t be him who decides on his next team mate anyway. The question is whether Carlos refusal to obey a team order, would affect a decision on bringing him back to Maranello.

Then again given Ferrari’s recent history of a revolving door for their senior management, those who may hold grudges against the Spaniard may have been replaced in two more years.

With Ferrari expecting McLaren to be super strong in the heat of Qatar, this may have been Carlos last chance of a podium for quite some time.

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Mercedes Vegas performance the key to 2025 car design

Lewis Hamilton is leaving his Mercedes family to conclude his F1 career with Ferrari. Yet on Sunday in Las Vegas, the silver arrows team were rampant with George Russell romping to victory and Lewis Hamilton scything through the field from P10 to finish second behind his team mate.

This was Mercedes first 1-2 since Sao Paulo in 2022 although the tense battle between the pair to the line in Brazil, was missing in the desert evening in Nevada. The result was no surprise given the team had topped the timesheets all weekend.

Despite being quickest in both Thursday practice sessions, Hamilton was cautious given Mercedes have repeatedly gone backwards during the course of a race weekend this year. Speculation n the paddock suggested the team may be running the cars with lower fuel levels than others, but Russell’s pole in qualifying put pay to all that talk.. READ MORE