Carlos Sainz would have felt extremely hard done by when Ferrari informed him that they weren’t renewing his contract. Even with a seven-time world champion like Lewis Hamilton available, he felt he deserved to retain his seat.
And nothing he’s seen this year will have shaken that conviction. Ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix, Sainz is two places and 51 points above Hamilton in the standings.
Of course, that largely reflects Ferrari’s advantage over Mercedes. But what’s more significant is the gap to their respective teammates.
Yes, Hamilton is only nine points behind George Russell, while Sainz trails Charles Leclerc by 60. But across Grand Prix qualifying and the races, Hamilton has only beaten the sister car 11 times this year.
Sainz, on the other hand, has defeated Leclerc on 15 occasions. He could yet finish the season within three in the qualifying and race-day head-to-heads (currently 13-8 and 12-7).
The Spaniard has put together another strong season but looks set to swap the runners-up for the team second from bottom in Williams. To add to the sense of injustice, he’s watched Hamilton endure perhaps the worst season of his career.
Peter Windsor can’t understand why Carlos Sainz is more fired up than Lewis Hamilton at Qatar Grand Prix
Sainz impressed once again in Sprint qualifying for the Qatar GP on Friday evening. He set the fourth-fastest time, pipping Leclerc by just under three-hundredths.
Meanwhile, Hamilton was on the wrong end of a somewhat alarming four-tenth deficit to Russell. The former starts seventh while the latter lines up alongside Lando Norris on the front row.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Peter Windsor suggested Hamilton may have ‘signed off mentally’. But he can’t understand why the 39-year-old has lost motivation when he’s joining another top team next year.
By contrast, Sainz remains fired up even though he almost certainly won’t score a podium next year and may struggle to finish higher than ninth given the advantage of the top four teams. He outqualified Leclerc in Vegas and won the Mexico City GP just last month.
“Maybe it’s Lewis kind of signed off mentally,” Windsor said. “But it’s interesting to compare [him to] Carlos Sainz, who in theory should be signing off mentally – Ferrari have basically sacked him after a very good year with the Scuderia, and he’s driving for Williams next year, which is not the same as going to another frontrunning team in the way Lewis is.
“And yet it’s interesting the way Carlos has approached these last three races, outqualifying his teammate, winning races, looking really good. Whereas Lewis Hamilton on the other side of the defence looks quite defeated at the moment.”
What Lewis Hamilton’s ‘darkest demons’ are saying to him ahead of Mercedes farewell
Sainz will hope to return to Ferrari one day. He’s signed a long-term deal at Williams but he has the option to leave at the end of 2026.
It may be significant, then, that Hamilton’s Ferrari contract only runs for two years at first. There is a mutual option for a third season but that will depend on whether he can banish any notion of decline.
BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson says Hamilton will be wrestling with his ‘darkest demons’ right now. He’ll be wondering whether or not he’s to blame for his woes, or the car is responsible.
Hamilton has made a ‘weird’ complaint about rear instability when he used to be ‘famous’ for his ability to tame oversteer. Perhaps, in this generation of cars, he’s lost some of the attributes that made him so special.
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