Carlos Sainz will bid farewell to Ferrari after four years this week – a team that helped him to secure his first victory in the sport, and now he has a chance to repay them.
The ultimate goodbye would be for him and Charles Leclerc to perform an Abu Dhabi Grand Prix miracle and win the constructors’ championship.
To do that, they need to turn around a 21-point deficit to McLaren, which probably commands a double podium and some luck at the very least.
It may be the last race Sainz competes in with a race-winning car for some time, as he makes a switch to Williams next season to partner Alex Albon.
Carlos Sainz is ‘similar’ to Sebastian Vettel in car understanding
Over the last four years, Riccardo Adami has become accustomed to Sainz’s habits as his race engineer, both on and off the track.
Previously, he also worked alongside Sebastian Vettel during some relentless years chasing Lewis Hamilton (the man replacing Sainz) and Mercedes.
He told F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast that Sainz shares some similarities with Vettel – a four-time champion who won 14 races for the Scuderia.
“Yes, indeed, they are quite similar in terms of, yeah, simulator, working with the simulator, developing, as I say, the car, the understanding of the car behaviour and the sensitivity to stuff.
“So he’s quite sensitive on changes of the car. At times, you know, we change stuff blind as it is able to recognize what has been changed in the car.”
Could Sainz return to Ferrari one day?
Judging that the man replacing him turns 40 next season, there’s every possibility that Sainz could return to Ferrari one day.
He has great experience, is a proven race-winner and knows the team very well after four years with them – so who better to fill in for Hamilton when he is finished?
That’s unless the Brit pulls off a Fernando Alonso-esque career and keeps going for another five or six years, which would shock a lot of people considering his other commitments and interests.
It’s also harsh to assume that there is no chance of a Williams team that has invested heavily in infrastructure and the future, making a charge for victories and titles.
James Vowles is a great leader, and by 2027 or 2028, there’s every possibility that they are competing with Ferrari and Sainz sees no need to depart his new home.
