The 2024 market ‘bomb’
With the 2024 championship now definitively closed, Ferrari gathered at Fiorano on Tuesday to formally bid farewell to Carlos Sainz, a driver who has represented the Scuderia over the previous 4 seasons and who will be part of Williams in 2025. This transfer, introduced earlier within the season, was a direct consequence of Ferrari’s stunning announcement made even earlier than the beginning of the championship, when the workforce revealed the settlement reached with Lewis Hamilton for 2025.
A real market ‘bomb’ that shocked followers and insiders alike, together with Mercedes Group Principal Toto Wolff and Carlos Sainz himself. The Spaniard, in a current interview on F1’s official podcast *Past the Grid*, admitted he had been virtually totally sure he would proceed his journey at Maranello in 2025, a state of affairs that can as a substitute not come to cross.
The shock
A call that brought about him ache however in the end helped him change into a greater driver: “In the beginning of the 12 months, I used to be examined greater than I ever had been earlier than, and life put me in a really uncomfortable place,” he admitted. “I used to be advised that I wouldn’t proceed with the workforce I used to be 99% certain I might hold working with over the winter. It was an enormous shock to my hopes, and naturally, I didn’t get pleasure from that second. I nonetheless skilled and ready for the season, aiming to be able to win races, to win a championship if the chance arose, and I approached that 12 months nonetheless stuffed with vitality, however clearly in an uncomfortable state of affairs and at an uncomfortable time.
“I bear in mind being very emotional on the rostrum at the Australian Grand Prix as a result of my father, my supervisor, my girlfriend, and everybody near me had been there. In fact, I used to be pondering of my mom. All of them had seen me endure over the winter, and once I say endure, I don’t imply crying behind closed doorways, however I used to be genuinely harm as a result of I didn’t count on it. I wasn’t ready for that type of information. I stayed a bit in shock for some time.
“I bear in mind after Australia fascinated with how fortunate I’m to have individuals round me who help me and provides me the internal energy to beat a troublesome time. Now, once I suppose again on it, I’m virtually glad, proud that it occurred, as a result of it made me a greater driver and a greater athlete total.”
Nonetheless a future at Maranello?
The brand new problem for Carlos Sainz is the one awaiting him in 2025 on the wheel of the Williams, however the four-time Grand Prix winner hasn’t dominated out a possible return to Ferrari sooner or later if the chance arises: “Sure, why not? I don’t see why not,” he concluded. “On the identical time, I don’t see the way it might occur anytime quickly, however life is lengthy. I’m 30, however in F1, you see drivers at 42. So, if I had been to remain in F1 that lengthy, who’s to say that within the subsequent 10 years, Ferrari won’t want me once more? This doesn’t imply I’m hoping for it or wanting ahead to such issues taking place. Proper now, I’ve a really massive objective in thoughts, which is to assist Williams get again to the highest of the championship, however I don’t give it some thought an excessive amount of.”
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