Carlos Sainz will contest his final race with Ferrari at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix before being replaced by Lewis Hamilton for the 2025 season.
The Spaniard was given the news that he would be ousted in favour of the seven-time World Champion rather suddenly in the winter break, leading to months-long speculation over where he would end up on the grid.
Despite at least three F1 teams on the grid wanting his services, Sainz eventually went with Williams for the 2025 season after several months of convincing from team principal James Vowles.
Sainz was keen to show Ferrari made a mistake by dropping him, in turn proving that he is one of the most sought-after drivers on the grid. His win in Australia just days after his operation for appendicitis was remarkable, while another dominant victory in Mexico provided the perfect swansong.
He was the only driver to dethrone Red Bull and prevent a clean sweep in 2023 with his victory in Singapore, which would lead many to question why Ferrari has chosen to replace him in the first place.
Speaking about receiving the news initially on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Sainz says he now understands why they chose to replace him with Hamilton instead of teammate Charles Leclerc.
Carlos Sainz understands ‘100%’ why Ferrari chose to replace him with Lewis Hamilton
Sainz is now two places and 51 points above Hamilton in the Drivers’ standings, although a lot of that can be attributed to the Mercedes not being the easiest car to drive in 2024.
At the time the decision was made in February, there was a lot of questions over why Ferrari chose to replace a capable driver.
When asked whether he understands Ferrari’s decision, Sainz said: “100%. I understood it almost right from the beginning. I think if it would have been someone else, I would have taken a lot more longer to understand.
“But when you understand Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion and one of the best – if not the best in history – is going to replace you as Ferrari. And Lewis has decided to do his last part of his career in Ferrari, and that you need to be one of the two drivers sacrificed for that to happen – I understand.
“I also understand why it was never going to be Charles. Charles has been the project of Ferrari ever since he’s been a junior driver.”
Carlos Sainz out-qualified and outraced by Charles Leclerc in 2024
Sainz has been comfortably within a tenth of Leclerc throughout his tenure at the Maranello-based team, although the latter has consistently held the upper hand in qualifying by winning the intra-team battle by a 13-9 margin over their first two seasons and nudging it to 15-7 last year.
That figure stands at 14-8 this year, meaning Leclerc has out-qualified his teammate in every season they have been together.
| Stat | Leclerc | Sainz |
| Points | 325 | 272 |
| Race Result | 13 | 7 |
| Qualifying | 14 | 8 |
| Fastest Laps | 10 | 11 |
| Wins | 3 | 2 |
In terms of race results, Leclerc has managed to finish ahead of Sainz on 13 occasions this year compared to only seven.
Sainz does have more fastest laps with 11 to 10, but Leclerc will end the season with more race wins having taken victory in Monaco, Monza, and Austin.
