If there is one thing that cannot be argued with Carlos Sainz, it is the granite mentality he has. Facing a Formula 1 World Championship and facing competitive animals of the magnitude of Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton or Max Leclerc, knowing that the team you compete for does not bet on you for the following year, leaves anyone in a bad state. and, in many cases, the desire to lie in bed. However, the Spaniard used that setback as fuel to sign his best season in the championship, with two victories and nine podiums and a total of 290 points that leave him in fifth final position in the general drivers’ classification, two places ahead. from Hamilton, the one chosen by Maranello executives to ride their car next year.
In Abu Dhabi, Ferrari had a small chance of taking the constructors’ title from McLaren, but that desire became even more complicated on Friday, following Charles Leclerc’s ten-place penalty for replacing the battery in his car, which was to the Monegasque to start in the catacombs of the grill. Placed third in the formation, Sainz left the first corner second thanks to Max Verstappen, who came in kamikaze and collided with Oscar Piastri. Despite a very close first phase of the test, in which Norris could not escape, the obvious superiority of the McLaren, the best car at the time, ended the hopes of the drivers. typhosiwho could do nothing to prevent the Woking team from celebrating its ninth manufacturers’ crown.
As soon as he crossed the finish line, he was second, just behind Norris, his best friend in the paddockSainz took stock of the four years in which he has competed wearing the jumpsuit of The Prancing Horseprobably the most universal symbol in the racing world. Dressed in red, the Madrid native has accumulated the four wins that appear in his record, and 25 of his 27 podiums. When he signed for Ferrari, in 2021, the Scuderia He was nowhere – he had finished in sixth place in the 2020 World Cup – and he had not won a race for two years (2019). Now that he is leaving, the Italian brand has come close to becoming world champion of constructors, and will probably start next year with one of the best prototypes. In short, a chapter to be more than proud of before taking the step—supposedly back—to Williams, a team in reconstruction, the penultimate in statistics, and that will take a lot of advantage from Sainz as a compass.
“It wasn’t an easy season. Starting the year with the news of not continuing in 2025 was a very hard blow. And having to compete in 24 races knowing that I was not going to continue made things a little difficult. But I knew how to stay out of all that,” acknowledged Sainz, surprised by his troops with a jumpsuit that, on the back area, carried the list of all the victories and podiums achieved with Ferrari. “People can’t imagine how excited I am for what’s to come; to help a legendary team like Williams. It is a project that motivates me a lot. I know that I will not be fighting for victories or podiums in the coming years, but it is not something that worries me, because I have already achieved it at Ferrari,” concluded the son of the two-time world rally champion.
