Carlos Sainz says his contract extension with Ferrari was deliberately announced at Imola and chalks up rumours to “gossip “
Timed to coincide with Ferrari’s home race at Imola this weekend, Ferrari announced on Thursday that it had extended Carlos Sainz’s contract by two years up to and including the 2024 Formula One season.
After his successful first season together, in which he claimed four podiums and left teammate Charles Leclerc behind him in the final 2021 Formula One drivers’ standings, a swift extension of Sainz’s two-year contract had been expected.
Team boss Mattia Binotto said at the end of 2021 talks between the two sides would begin during the winter break. Sainz confirmed on the sidelines of the presentation of the Ferrari F1-75 for the 2022 season that they were “in the middle of talks. “
After the season opener in Bahrain, where he finished second behind team-mate Leclerc to secure a Ferrari one-two, Sainz added on the subject of the contract being “very close, almost there”. At the same time, Binotto said after the Bahrain weekend: “We have found an agreement. It’s just a matter of putting it on paper.”
According to recent reports, however, the two sides had had difficulties agreeing on the exact nature of Sainz’s desired two-year extension until the end of 2024. The Spaniard wants to know nothing of such difficulties. Rather, he points out that the announcement at Imola weekend was no coincidence.
“You can imagine how much I laughed at home when people started writing these things,” said a good-humoured Sainz at Imola on Thursday, adding: “In fact, I had everything as good as ready. We just waited until Imola to announce it.”
According to Sainz, the new deal with Ferrari was “extremely straightforward”. The Spaniard mentally goes back a few months, saying, “It was very simple. After such a good first year that we had, the agreement over winter was quite easy for both sides. And it was ideal to have the opportunity now to announce it in a place like Imola, in front of the tifosi. We just worked out a good plan for the announcement.”
When asked about the importance of the term of his new contract, Sainz replied, “That’s the key. It’s no longer a secret that lately it’s become important not only for me but also for other drivers to be able to concentrate fully on performance and racing and not have to think too much about the future.”
In the first seven years of his Formula One career, the young Sainz was signed by four teams: Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren and Ferrari. With the latter racing team, he has now found the stability he was looking for. Sainz concludes on the recent rumours that he and Ferrari suddenly had trouble reaching an agreement by saying: “Fun times, as always in Formula 1, with all the gossip. “
