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Jean Alesi believes Carlos Sainz has found himself in an unfortunate situation after being replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari. The former F1 driver believes the Spaniard has performed well enough to deserve a competitive opportunity on the grid.
After the announcement of Hamilton joining Ferrari for the 2025 season, Sainz made a short statement about his future. Currently, the driver is speculated to be in talks with Audi Sauber, Mercedes, and Williams.
Despite performing well in 2023 with a victory in Singapore, the former Red Bull driver’s contract was not renewed for the following season, whereas teammate Charles Leclerc was recently given a multi-year contract that extends beyond the 2025 season.
Alesi empathized with Sainz's situation at Ferrari. Praising the Spanish driver’s competitiveness, discipline, and fitness, he felt the former McLaren driver has grown over the years and performed impressively. In 2023, Sainz was the only non-Red Bull driver to win a race, doing so at the Singapore GP.
Commenting on Sainz in his personal column in Italian publication Corriere della Sera (h/t SoyMotor), Alesi said:
“I will say that it is great that Lewis arrives at Ferrari, even though I feel very sorry for Carlos Sainz. His attitude and performance in recent years has been more than positive, I would say even surprising. Results, competitiveness and discipline, strong and fair.
"A true gentleman of motorsports who at this moment finds himself in an uncomfortable and undeserved situation. I am convinced that he will take on new opportunities to continue on the grid seeing his talent and also the prestige he has accumulated by racing alongside Leclerc.”
Alesi believes that Hamilton moving to Ferrari will be an exciting venture and compared the Brit’s personality to Michael Schumacher's. He said that he hopes the combination of the seven-time world champion and the Maranello outfit will draw interest to a team that has lost its winning form in recent years.
The 59-year-old Frenchman added:
“Lewis, deep down, makes me think of Schumacher, in terms of personality and charisma, with all due respect to Alonso and Vettel, who arrived at Maranello with titles and a great reputation. I hope it will be an electric adventure, that it will be renewed race by race, around which universal interest will be generated.”
Former F1 world champion believes Carlos Sainz is not in a bargaining position for his drive
Jacques Villeneuve believes that Carlos Sainz has been the losing party in the contract situation involving Ferrari’s 2025 driver lineup.
The Canadian former world champion felt that Sainz will be under pressure to perform in 2024 and might not resort to any team orders through the season. The former Williams driver felt beating Leclerc in 2024 will be key to impressing future employers.
Weighing in on Carlos Sainz's situation on the driver's market, Villeneuve told La Gazzetta dello Sport:
“He [Carlos Sainz] is the big loser in this situation because his bargaining power, with Audi or anyone else, is obviously much less. Sainz will have no interest in playing the team’s games. Ferrari’s results for him now count for zero, the only thing that will count will be his results.
"He has to [produce] them for his 2025 contract. Possibly trying to beat Leclerc. See how Mercedes will handle the confrontation between [George] Russell and Hamilton. And how it will work between Leclerc and Sainz, who now has nothing left to lose.”
As per BBC, Sainz has been linked with a move to Williams for the year 2025 and beyond. Due to his father Carlos Sainz Sr’s Dakar victory with Audi, the Ferrari driver has also been associated with the Audi Sauber team as a works driver, where the four-ringed giant will be an engine manufacturer from 2026.
With a plethora of options available at the moment, even Red Bull is not off the table, considering Sainz was a part of their junior programme when he debuted at Toro Rosso alongside Max Verstappen.
