How Carlos Sainz reacted to the news that he would have to vacate his cockpit for Lewis Hamilton at the end of the year, according to Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur
How Carlos Sainz himself reacted a few weeks ago to the news that he would have to vacate his Ferrari cockpit for Lewis Hamilton at the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season, he has already said these days. According to Sainz, it “naturally came as a surprise” to him, as he had already been looking forward to a new Ferrari contract.
For his part, still-Mercedes driver Hamilton, who will drive for Ferrari from 2025, has recently admitted that the deal to switch to Ferrari would not have come about without Frederic Vasseur. Hamilton and Vasseur know each other from the time when the record Formula 1 world champion was not even driving in the premier class.
Hamilton drove for Vasseur’s team in both the Formula 3 Euro Series (2005) and the GP2 Series (2006). In Formula 3, the racing team operated under the name ASM, in the GP2 series as ART. In the 2025 Formula 1 season – 20 years after winning the Formula 3 title and 19 years after winning the GP2 title – Hamilton and Vasseur will be reunited at Ferrari.
But how did Carlos Sainz react to the announcement of Hamilton’s switch from Vasseur’s point of view? The Ferrari team boss had the following to say in response to this question on the sidelines of the Formula 1 tests in Bahrain: “We’ve now had time to talk about it. His reaction was mega professional. And I know very well that it wasn’t easy for him. “
The phone call in which he informed Sainz that his services would no longer be needed at Ferrari from 2025 because an agreement had been reached with Hamilton was “the most difficult call of my life” for Vasseur. Why? “Because I absolutely appreciate what he did for us last year.”
“The fact that he won in Singapore, that he drove to pole in Monza and that he pulled the team out [of the form crisis of the summer months] at this stage of the season and so on,” the Ferrari team boss says in reference to Sainz.
Sainz’s aforementioned victory in the Ferrari in Singapore was the only Grand Prix win in the 2023 Formula 1 season that was not won by Red Bull. At the end of the season, Sainz had just six points fewer in the overall championship standings than his highly rated team-mate Charles Leclerc. However, when Vasseur came to an agreement with Hamilton, it was clear that the upcoming 2024 season would be Sainz’s last at Ferrari.
“His reaction was mega professional,” repeated Vasseur emphatically. “He is fully focused on the new season. And he told me that he will give everything until the last round of the season. I can only say: he can be sure that we will also give everything for him, not until the last lap, but until the last corner.”
Vasseur certainly has no problems motivating Sainz for his final year at Ferrari, as he explains: “He is really mega professional and not at all difficult to manage. He has the opportunity to drive for Ferrari and we have the opportunity to have Carlos in the car.”
“We know that we are facing a huge challenge, but motivation is really very easy to find. I really have to say that I appreciate the reaction from Carlos after the announcement,” said the Ferrari team principal.
