Carlos Sainz Reveals Grace Regardless of Dropping Ferrari Seat to Lewis Hamilton
Carlos Sainz has displayed exceptional professionalism and composure after being changed by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari. From the start, Sainz acknowledged the unparalleled enchantment of the seven-time world champion and accepted Ferrari’s choice with out public criticism.
Nevertheless, it might be pure for Carlos Sainz to really feel some frustration when observing Hamilton’s early performances in 2025. Thus far, Lewis Hamilton has seemed to be a downgrade in comparison with the Spaniard. Whereas it stays doable that Hamilton will finally adapt and ship performances that surpass Carlos Sainz’s earlier degree, the preliminary indicators have been removed from encouraging for the Maranello crew.
Except for a powerful displaying on Friday and Saturday on the Shanghai Worldwide Circuit, Lewis Hamilton has persistently been outperformed by Charles Leclerc in each aggressive session this season. Usually, the gaps between the 2 Ferrari drivers have been vital relatively than marginal.
Hamilton, who just lately turned 40, has gathered simply 31 factors over the primary 5 race weekends. By comparability, the Spaniard surpassed that complete within the opening 5 rounds in every of his 4 seasons with the Scuderia.
In the meantime, Carlos Sainz, now at Williams, initially confronted challenges adjusting to his new crew. Nevertheless, he has shortly discovered his rhythm, qualifying eighth in Bahrain earlier than enhancing to a sixth-place begin in Jeddah, the place he additionally secured a priceless four-point haul.
Hamilton vs. Sainz: Early Qualifying Comparisons Paint a Stark Image
Following a relentless opening stretch of 5 races in six weeks, Formulation 1 has entered a short hiatus, offering a chance to judge Lewis Hamilton’s performances towards Sainz’s earlier benchmarks. With an inexpensive pattern dimension, the comparability is more and more telling.
In the course of the 2023 Formulation 1 season, Charles Leclerc outqualified his former Maranello teammate 14 occasions throughout 23 weekends, however the common hole between them was an extremely slim 0.03%. This underscored that whereas Leclerc usually had the sting over a single lap, Sainz was extraordinarily shut and recurrently in a position to problem his teammate.
Quick-forward to 2025, and the state of affairs seems to be very totally different. The Monegasque driver already holds a 4-1 benefit over Hamilton in qualifying classes, with the common hole now ballooning to 0.321% in response to F1 Tempo knowledge — greater than ten occasions bigger than the earlier yr’s distinction between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
This intra-team disparity ranks because the fourth-largest amongst all full-time driver pairings on the grid. Solely Jack Doohan (0.51%), Kimi Antonelli (0.471%), and Esteban Ocon (0.413%) path their teammates by better margins — and notably, two of these three drivers are rookies.
Hamilton, by his personal admission, acknowledges that qualifying has change into a vulnerability at this stage of his profession. Nonetheless, even he might not have anticipated the gulf between himself and Charles Leclerc could be so dramatic in such a brief house of time.
Carlos Sainz Attracts Curiosity However Faces Profession Warnings
Whereas Sainz continues to rebuild his popularity at Williams, murmurs about his future vacation spot have grown louder. Some Purple Bull insiders reportedly advocated for signing Sainz final yr, and with the present turbulence at Milton Keynes, they could now remorse lacking that chance.
The Spaniard has additionally begun to achieve the higher hand over teammate Alex Albon at Williams, narrowing the qualifying head-to-head to 3-2 and ending forward in Saudi Arabia for the primary time. Impressively, Sainz has additionally outqualified Hamilton prior to now two Grand Prix weekends, a truth not misplaced on Formulation 1 followers.
Though Williams has shifted its focus solely to the 2026 laws, successfully halting improvement on this yr’s automobile, Carlos Sainz’s constant performances may nonetheless see him push for a top-10 end within the drivers’ standings by season’s finish.
Nevertheless, Juan Pablo Montoya has publicly urged Carlos Sainz to consider carefully about any potential supply from Purple Bull. With uncertainty surrounding each Max Verstappen’s and Yuki Tsunoda’s futures past 2025, a seat may open — however Montoya characterised the Purple Bull alternative as “poison ivy,” suggesting it may do extra hurt than good to Carlos Sainz’s profession trajectory.
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