Consider this: Sainz, a driver who has been dropped by the largest team in Formula 1, to be replaced by the sport’s most successful driver of the last twenty years – Lewis Hamilton – to join Ferrari’s homegrown talent Charles Leclerc. This leaves the Spaniard without a job at the end of the season.
At the first race of the year in Bahrain, Sainz expressed his gratitude to the Reds by outperforming Leclerc and securing a podium finish behind the dominant Red Bulls. A week later, in Jeddah, he had to undergo surgery to remove his appendix, which prevented him from racing but not from being present in the Ferrari pit garage, where he witnessed the emergence of F1’s newest star, Oliver Bearman.
Two weeks later, with his bandaged abdomen where his appendix used to be, Sainz once again outperformed Leclerc in qualifying and the race, ultimately winning it for Ferrari. It was an unbelievable turn of events that couldn’t have been scripted!
It’s highly unlikely that the currently unemployed Sainz will remain without a job for much longer, as his stock is rising and he certainly deserves a competitive car. However, the question remains: where will he find one for the 2025 season? Ferrari can definitely be ruled out.
There has been speculation about Sainz Junior leading the Audi F1 project. Andreas Seidl, who worked with Sainz at McLaren, is overseeing the transformation of Sauber into Audi. There seems to be mutual admiration and respect between them. However, even at a glance, the current state of the Sauber Kick Stake F1 team is a complete mess, despite the presence of a highly-regarded former BMW, Porsche, and McLaren executive supposedly in charge. Why would a top driver like Sainz choose to go there?
On the other hand, replacing Sainz with Hamilton, who is bound for Ferrari, would make perfect sense for Mercedes. He would be the ideal teammate to benchmark against George Russell, who has been outperforming his seven-time F1 World Champion teammate and may be on the decline.
Is Hamilton still performing at his absolute best? We will find out in 2025 when he competes against Leclerc. Is Russell as good as Sainz? It would be interesting to find out. However, is Mercedes, in its current state of poor performance with no signs of improvement, an attractive destination for a driver who wants to win races? The team, which was once the dominant force in F1, has lost its allure. Hamilton seems to have once again timed his departure perfectly, just as he did before McLaren’s decline years ago.
With Lance Stroll seemingly secure in one Aston Martin seat, it is difficult to imagine Fernando Alonso being replaced. McLaren has already signed two young drivers for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, the other F1 teams, including Sauber, are currently performing poorly.
Although I hold the belief that Sergio Perez is performing just as well as any teammate could against Verstappen, I must admit that 29-year-old Sainz is a more promising prospect than the 34-year-old Mexican, both in terms of current performance and age.
If The Verstappens are foolish enough to leave the F1 World Champion team, as some reports suggest, they will be in a state of crisis because Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo are not deserving of that opportunity. Sainz would be the perfect fit for them.
He also provides a solution for Christian Horner’s team: If Max stays, they will have the most formidable duo in the sport as teammates. If Max leaves, at least they will have Sainz.
Adding to this, it is worth recalling Helmut Marko’s respect and insight from earlier this year: “Sainz is undoubtedly a fantastic driver. He was almost on par with Max at Toro Rosso, but unfortunately, he had the misfortune of being Verstappen’s teammate.
“The relationship between the two of them was quite toxic. Given the team structure at the time, there was no possibility of keeping him with us, so he moved to Renault before driving for McLaren and eventually ending up at Ferrari.”
“In his first Formula 1 test at Silverstone,” Marko reminisced. “He was slightly faster than Sebastian Vettel in the fast corners, whose times were our benchmark at the time. He was almost on the same level as Verstappen, but only almost. When we had to choose between him and Max, it was clear who we had to choose,” Marko revealed.
Now, nearly a decade later, Sainz and Verstappen are very different individuals. F1 has witnessed their growth from youngsters to the best of their generation. One can imagine that maturity, experience, and common ground would create a very different dynamic compared to their teenage years at Toro Rosso. It might even work.
In conclusion, although I am not a fan of Ferrari, I deeply admire its rich history in motorsport. If I were a devoted Tifosi, I would be torn between my emotions and rationality.
My sentimental side says that Leclerc is a good choice to partner Hamilton because he is incredibly fast, a genuinely kind person, developed within the Maranello FDA program, and the romance that comes with that. However, a nagging thought in my logical mind would lean towards Sainz.
That is why I believe that when Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur contemplates the decision, he may be considering asking the question.