Carlos Sainz “has earned” a better seat than Williams in Formula 1, his father and namesake insists.
Sunday will be 30-year-old Sainz junior’s 88th and final grand prix for Ferrari. His replacement for 2025 is seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who was heavily criticised on Saturday by his former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.
“Lewis is no longer at the level that he is used to – not by a long shot,” the German said in Abu Dhabi.
“His teammate (George Russell) is ahead of him in almost every qualifying session and not by just a little bit, but significantly. In Brazil, he said he wanted to stop. Then in Qatar he made all those mistakes.
“It could be that he will find his way back to his old greatness with a new car and a new team. But it could also be that it just continues like this and that would be really bad and horrible,” Rosberg added.
As for Sainz, in his last qualifying session for Ferrari on Saturday, he was in contention for pole and ultimately was beaten only by the dominant McLarens.
“If I’m very honest with you, I have not been very emotional this weekend,” he said afterwards, “just because the level of focus is so high and there’s so much at stake, with the opportunity to win and to fight for the constructors’.
“I’m pretty sure before the race or after the race, it will start to hit.”
Sainz will race a Williams in 2025, on a long-term contract that according to rumours will allow him to escape to a better team if an opportunity arises.
It’s a sad situation, the Spaniard’s father Carlos Sainz – a rallying legend – told the Cadena SER program El Larguero.
“Carlos has earned the right to be in a top team, and next year it won’t be like that,” he said. “The world of Formula 1 is so difficult. You never know what life has in store for you.
“But what you can never do is give up. You have to keep fighting and keep your hopes up, fighting like he has done this year,” the 62-year-old added.
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