This text doesn’t intention to handle technical issues or present a chilly checklist of Carlos Sainz’s achievements throughout his Ferrari tenure since becoming a member of the Maranello crew again in 2021, when he changed four-time Formulation 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel. It’s merely a mirrored image, with phrases and punctuation, meant to focus on how unfair, unacceptable, and, sure, ridiculous, the hostility of a part of the Ferrari fanbase towards the Spaniard is.
For some, Carlos Sainz is a type of Pandora’s field, that vessel from Greek mythology containing all of the world’s evils saved separate from humanity till it was opened. “It’s raining? Blame it on the federal government!” was the saying. Immediately, it appears Carlos Sainz’s identify might exchange that of political authority.
The Spanish driver dedicated a big “sin” and has since confronted absurd accusations: he joined Ferrari to play second fiddle however grew to become, in apply, a driver free to race as a result of his general efficiency stage was not so removed from the one expressed by his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc. Let’s set the report straight: when it comes to uncooked pace, Charles Leclerc is and stays sooner than Carlos Sainz. There might be little doubt about this, and the numbers converse for themselves, particularly when it comes to qualifying laps, the place pure pace involves the forefront.
However a driver is not only about that. An efficient driver should possess different attributes of their technical arsenal: strategic imaginative and prescient, the flexibility to learn the second of the race, adaptability to imperfect vehicles, and sadly there was loads of that for Ferrari, ability in guiding engineers’ technical growth, and lots of different parts wanted to battle for victory in Formulation 1.
Carlos Sainz possesses all these qualities and has confirmed it throughout his 4 years with the Italian facet. The numbers are plain to see and can’t be disputed even by probably the most excessive haters, those that in latest days have been exhibiting the worst of themselves on the standard social networks, public boards was retailers for questionable opinions that ought to make their authors ashamed.
Many snicker in a totally silly method on the “downgrade” the Spaniard supposedly made by going to Williams for the 2025 Formulation 1 championship. Most likely, Carlos Sainz has been a sufferer of his personal technical caliber. Somebody like him would have been very helpful for a prime crew like Pink Bull, although to not Max Verstappen, who prefers to have a Sergio Pérez or a Liam Lawson by his facet reasonably than somebody with high-level technical competence and psychological resilience. For the Dutchman it’s higher to race alongside a subordinate knight than a structured and difficult driver. And it appears that evidently crew principal Christian Horner is prepared to just accept this example in an effort to preserve his star driver glad, even supposing in 2024 Pink Bull was out of the battle for the World Constructors’ Championship as a result of extraordinarily poor efficiency of the Mexican driver.
Mercedes additionally thought-about the Spaniard, however his candidacy was dismissed not on account of an expert shortfall, however as a result of they determined to concentrate on an inner funding, the younger Italian driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, for a transitional yr like 2025. Briefly, Carlos Sainz was caught up in circumstances and had to decide on a noble crew in decline, however one with stable ambitions and the potential to slowly climb again up, presumably leveraging the regulatory overhaul within the 2026 Formulation 1 season.
The Spanish driver carried out effectively at Ferrari however had to surrender his seat to a seven-time Formulation 1 world champion, a possibility which the highest administration of the Maranello crew couldn’t afford to move up. Carlos Sainz grew to become a casualty of the brand new course: Ferrari crew principal Frederic Vasseur has at all times been very near Charles Leclerc, having mentored him, and has long-standing ties to Lewis Hamilton, whose profession he adopted from the beginning.
This doesn’t imply that the connection between the French supervisor and the Spanish driver was compromised, removed from it. Letting Carlos Sainz go on the finish of the 2024 Formulation 1 marketing campaign was a painful resolution that might have precipitated inner tensions at Ferrari. If this didn’t occur, it’s also due to Carlos Sainz’s professionalism, as he constantly prioritized the Maranello crew’s welfare.
In well-liked discourse, nonetheless, the narrative means that Carlos Sainz was self-serving. And why? As a result of in sure conditions, he raced, battling together with his Ferrari teammate. That’s what an expert driver does, particularly in a context the place the crew principal permits freedom to duel. That is an apparent undeniable fact that some keyboard warriors have chosen to disregard of their far-fetched reconstructions.
Why all this hostility? There isn’t a single reply. It’s laborious to decipher the psychological dynamics of followers, pushed extra by violent impulses than by rationality. Maybe Carlos Sainz is paying the worth for the “unique sin” of being chosen by former Ferrari crew principal Mattia Binotto, who chosen him to interchange Sebastian Vettel when it was believed the German driver would in actual fact be provided a contract renewal with the Maranello crew.
The present Audi government is one other determine who faces harsh criticism, a few of which is justified. For a section of the Ferrari fanbase, usually excessively divisive, the Spaniard’s arrival appeared to displace a purple legend like Sebastian Vettel, and this has at all times rubbed some the unsuitable method.
But Carlos Sainz’s story in purple is that of an amazing skilled who carried out together with his highs and the standard setbacks each driver faces all through their motorsport profession. Errors and missteps weren’t absent, however Carlos Sainz was at all times near Charles Leclerc, each on and off the observe. Seeing a driver so dedicated to the Ferrari trigger being handled so crudely is painful and an affront to purpose.
Free yourselves from this prejudice and revel in Ferrari’s progress, giving due credit score to a driver who helped write just a few pages of the Prancing Horse’s illustrious historical past. A historical past that can at all times transcend the people who constructed it, whether or not their names are Michael Schumacher, Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, or every other driver who, now or sooner or later, embraces the Ferrari trigger.
— see video above —
Purchase official Ferrari F1 merchandise!
Let different Scuderia Followers learn about us
