Four strong years for Sainz at Ferrari

December 23, 2024

in Racing

Reading Time: 3 mins read

Carlos Sainz Jnr stated farewell to Ferrari yesterday as he prepares to swap pink for blue subsequent 12 months at Williams.

However though Ferrari selected to maneuver Sainz apart, they will hardly be dissatisfied with the job he has achieved alongside Leclerc over his 4 seasons there.

Sainz narrowly out-scored Leclerc of their first season collectively as crew mates and led him into the ultimate race of 2023. All informed, he’s scored 89% of Leclerc’s factors tally over a four-year stretch, regardless of lacking a race this 12 months on account of appendicitis.

He rebounded from that setback in very good vogue, profitable on his return in Melbourne. Earlier than the 12 months was over Sainz grabbed a second valedictory victory for the crew he was leaving, displaying Leclerc a clear pair of heels in Mexico.

Sainz on Leclerc clashed on-track at instances

As in earlier seasons, there have been events the place the pair met one another on-track and the crew needed to handle the fall-out, corresponding to in Spain. Ferrari dropped the ball on that entrance through the Las Vegas Grand Prix, whereas questionable modifying of the radio messages broadcast by FOM made Sainz seem like a nasty man, when he wasn’t.

As mirrored by the season summaries, it might be improper to counsel Sainz constantly had the higher hand over his crew mate. Leclerc’s qualifying edge remained intact and he often had the race tempo to again it up. Nobody might severely counsel Ferrari let the improper man go.

Sainz’s core efficiency metrics clearly don’t measure up in addition to his factors rating did. Nonetheless, he possible represents significantly higher worth for cash than his crew mate, by no means thoughts his predecessor, whom Leclerc thrashed in 2020. Leclerc might additionally be taught rather a lot from how Sainz and his race engineer reply to variable climate situations.

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It’s not onerous to see why crew principal Frederic Vasseur felt he couldn’t flip down the chance to signal Lewis Hamilton when he had the possibility. But it surely does beg a few questions.

First, with the possible exception of Max Verstappen, would Sainz have misplaced his place to another driver on the grid? On the energy of those performances he didn’t need to.

Second, what extra might Purple Bull have wanted in a companion for Verstappen, which Sainz apparently didn’t have? Their refusal to rehire their former driver regardless of the standard of his latest performances says rather a lot about their priorities.