Ahead of his last season as a Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz doesn’t have to think long about how he will behave and what his favorite memories are so far
It has been clear since Lewis Hamilton’s spectacular switch announcement that the upcoming 2024 Formula 1 season will be Carlos Sainz’s last as a Ferrari driver. For his fourth and final year in Maranello, the young Sainz still has a number of goals. And should team-mate Charles Leclerc need his support in the world championship battle, the Spaniard is ready to provide it.
“Of course,” Sainz replied on Tuesday at the presentation of the Ferrari SF-24 when asked whether he would help Leclerc if the team asked him to. “I have always been a team player and will always remain one,” said the son of rally legend Carlos Sainz.
Before joining Ferrari for the 2021 season, the young Sainz raced for Toro Rosso, Renault and McLaren in his Formula 1 career, which began in 2015. “I’ve been a great team player in every team I’ve driven for in Formula 1. I’ve always been an example of how it should be in that respect. And yes, I will definitely help Charles if I have to,” he says.
“At the same time,” Sainz continues, “I expect Charles to help me if I have to fight for the world title myself.” It remains to be seen which of the two Ferrari drivers, or indeed whether either of them, will compete for the title in the 2024 season. Team Principal Frederic Vasseur, at any rate, has no intention of a transitional year.
Sainz himself has already achieved several goals in his three seasons as a Ferrari driver. He finished on the podium in his fifth race for the Scuderia (Monaco 2021). At Silverstone 2022, he achieved both his first pole and his first victory as a Ferrari driver in one weekend. And last year in Singapore, Sainz achieved the feat of being the only driver in the field to break Red Bull’s 2023 winning streak
When asked what his best memory at Ferrari is, Sainz doesn’t start with one of his successes: “I have really good memories in this team. I would start with the first time I drove a Ferrari. My first ever lap in a Ferrari in Fiorano, that was one of the most emotional moments of my career.”
Only then does Sainz list: “My first podium with Ferrari, my first pole with Ferrari, my first victory with Ferrari and of course the Singapore win. And what’s more, I’ve experienced many great moments with the people in this team. I really take away a lot of great moments with good friends, with great engineers, mechanics and people at different levels of management. “
When Sainz talks about “taking with him”, it is still unclear at this stage where he will go after the end of the 2024 season. Whichever team he will drive for in 2025, one thing is already certain for the Spaniard, who turns 30 in September.
“Getting to know the ‘life in red’ by traveling around the world as a Ferrari driver, to all the racetracks and all the different events, has helped me as a driver. And it’s also helped me when it comes to how I behave with the media, with the tifosi, with everyone,” he says.
“The working environment and the atmosphere are simply very different to any other team,” emphasizes Sainz, who can directly compare this with Toro Rosso, Renault and McLaren in terms of Grand Prix racing. “I really enjoyed my time at Ferrari,” he says emphatically, sounding a bit like saying goodbye.
However, Sainz still has a whole racing season in the “life in red” ahead of him. And he has his sights set high for this one: “I think I’ve already done and achieved a lot of good things here. My most important and best results were achieved at Ferrari. And I hope that in the one year that still lies ahead of me here, there will be even more great moments. I can hardly wait to create them. “