Carlos Sainz has admitted that the uncertainty over his future in Formula 1 in 2025 has been an ‘uncomfortable’ experience at times, as his departure from Ferrari approaches.
The Spaniard expressed his desire to remain at the Italian team, but the Scuderia opted to sign Lewis Hamilton from next season to form a pair with Charles Leclerc.
Sainz was considered for the Mercedes vacancy, while Red Bull consultant, Helmut Marko, revealed that the driver already has a lucrative proposal from Audi, which will fully take over Sauber from 2026, but already wants to form his driver duo in 2025, having confirmed today (26/04) that Nico Hulkenberg, who currently races for Haas, will be one of Sauber’s drivers next season.
Despite constant speculation, Sainz has responded well on the track, achieving three podiums, which includes a victory in Australia, in the four races he has participated in this year, as in Saudi Arabia he had appendicitis and was replaced by Oliver Bearman, a reserve at Ferrari and who currently races in F2.
Recognizing the frustration at not having a defined team for 2025, Sainz stated that he cannot be distracted in the search for good results.
“Whether it will be positive or negative will always depend on my performance,” Sainz told media in China last week when asked about his future. “I think the good thing about this sport is that if you do well, things usually end up going your way.”
“It can be frustrating at times, I’m not going to lie. Sleeping for a few days without knowing what the future holds is sometimes frustrating and uncomfortable. Other times, it’s exciting because there’s something new every day. The good thing is being able to separate things, perform well on the track and leave the rest to my management team,” he added.
Sainz believes his situation shows that Formula 1 differs from other sports in that teams choose their drivers based on factors other than pure performance.
“Things are progressing well, but this shows how difficult F1 is,” he continued. “Someone who might look at it from the outside and say, ‘The guy is doing so well and he still doesn’t know where he’s going to race next year.’ In other sports, maybe that doesn’t happen as often, and it just shows that F1 is a very particular sport, political in some aspects, depending on performance in others, it’s very particular in that sense.”
“But also exciting, and in some ways, when Netflix shows things the way they do (in the ‘Drive to Survive’ series), it can be very exciting from the outside, once you start to know the things that happen behind the scenes.” , he concluded.
Sainz currently occupies fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship with 69 points, seven behind teammate Charles Leclerc, even though he missed the race in Saudi Arabia due to appendicitis surgery.
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