Carlos Sainz Exhibits Grace Regardless of Dropping Ferrari Seat to Lewis Hamilton
Carlos Sainz has displayed outstanding professionalism and composure after being changed by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari. From the start, Sainz acknowledged the unparalleled enchantment of the seven-time world champion and accepted Ferrari’s determination with out public grievance.
Nevertheless, it could be pure for Carlos Sainz to really feel some frustration when observing Hamilton’s early performances in 2025. Thus far, Lewis Hamilton has seemed to be a downgrade in comparison with the Spaniard. Whereas it stays potential that Hamilton will ultimately adapt and ship performances that surpass Carlos Sainz’s earlier stage, the preliminary indicators have been removed from encouraging for the Maranello workforce.
Except for a robust displaying on Friday and Saturday on the Shanghai Worldwide Circuit, Lewis Hamilton has constantly been outperformed by Charles Leclerc in each aggressive session this season. Typically, the gaps between the 2 Ferrari drivers have been vital fairly than marginal.
Hamilton, who not too long ago turned 40, has collected simply 31 factors over the primary 5 race weekends. By comparability, the Spaniard surpassed that complete within the opening 5 rounds in every of his 4 seasons with the Scuderia.
In the meantime, Carlos Sainz, now at Williams, initially confronted challenges adjusting to his new workforce. Nevertheless, he has rapidly discovered his rhythm, qualifying eighth in Bahrain earlier than enhancing to a sixth-place begin in Jeddah, the place he additionally secured a worthwhile four-point haul.
Hamilton vs. Sainz: Early Qualifying Comparisons Paint a Stark Image
Following a relentless opening stretch of 5 races in six weeks, Components 1 has entered a quick hiatus, offering a chance to guage Lewis Hamilton’s performances in opposition to Sainz’s earlier benchmarks. With an affordable pattern dimension, the comparability is more and more telling.
Through the 2023 Components 1 season, Charles Leclerc outqualified his former Maranello teammate 14 instances throughout 23 weekends, however the common hole between them was an extremely slim 0.03%. This underscored that whereas Leclerc typically had the sting over a single lap, Sainz was extraordinarily shut and often in a position to problem his teammate.
Quick-forward to 2025, and the state of affairs seems to be very completely different. The Monegasque driver already holds a 4-1 benefit over Hamilton in qualifying periods, with the typical hole now ballooning to 0.321% in response to F1 Tempo information — greater than ten instances bigger than the earlier 12 months’s distinction between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
This intra-team disparity ranks because the fourth-largest amongst all full-time driver pairings on the grid. Solely Jack Doohan (0.51%), Kimi Antonelli (0.471%), and Esteban Ocon (0.413%) path their teammates by larger margins — and notably, two of these three drivers are rookies.
Hamilton, by his personal admission, acknowledges that qualifying has turn into a vulnerability at this stage of his profession. Nonetheless, even he could not have anticipated the gulf between himself and Charles Leclerc could be so dramatic in such a brief area of time.
Carlos Sainz Attracts Curiosity However Faces Profession Warnings
Whereas Sainz continues to rebuild his fame at Williams, murmurs about his future vacation spot have grown louder. Some Pink Bull insiders reportedly advocated for signing Sainz final 12 months, and with the present turbulence at Milton Keynes, they could now remorse lacking that chance.
The Spaniard has additionally begun to realize the higher hand over teammate Alex Albon at Williams, narrowing the qualifying head-to-head to 3-2 and ending forward in Saudi Arabia for the primary time. Impressively, Sainz has additionally outqualified Hamilton previously two Grand Prix weekends, a truth not misplaced on Components 1 followers.
Though Williams has shifted its focus fully to the 2026 laws, successfully halting improvement on this 12 months’s automobile, Carlos Sainz’s constant performances may nonetheless see him push for a top-10 end within the drivers’ standings by season’s finish.
Nevertheless, Juan Pablo Montoya has publicly urged Carlos Sainz to think twice about any potential supply from Pink Bull. With uncertainty surrounding each Max Verstappen’s and Yuki Tsunoda’s futures past 2025, a seat may open — however Montoya characterised the Pink Bull alternative as “poison ivy,” suggesting it may do extra hurt than good to Carlos Sainz’s profession trajectory.
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