If Ferrari had any concerns about Carlos Sainz's desire to compete in a team race in F1 in 2024, their concerns have now been put to rest.
Despite the new campaign not yet starting, F1's latest 'silly season' has already begun in a big way, with the bombshell that Lewis Hamilton will become a Ferrari driver from 2025.
This comes at a cost to Sainz. Sainz is preparing for the 2024 F1 season knowing it will be his last season in Ferrari Red.
Carlos Sainz intends to maintain the image of an 'exemplary' team player
Ferrari aren't the kind of team to shy away from giving a driver a team order, but will Sainz be willing to prioritize Leclerc if asked, knowing he has no long-term future at Maranello?
Sainz has confirmed that he will continue to follow Ferrari's orders in F1 in 2024, and expects the same to be true vice versa.
Asked by media outlets including PlanetF1.com's Sam Cooper if he would help Leclerc win the F1 title in 2024 if asked by Ferrari, Sainz replied: “Yes. I've always been a team player.
“If you think about everything I've done in F1, I think I've been a great team player and I've always been exemplary in that sense as a driver for any team.
“I will definitely help Charles if necessary, just as I hope Charles will help me if I fight for a world championship myself.”
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And no matter what the circumstances, Sainz's “hunger'' to fight for the title remains the same, and so does the pressure he puts on himself and his team.
“I think the amount of pressure on myself, the team, the engineers and everyone involved will be exactly the same,” he admitted.
“The desire to win races, the desire to be a champion is not going to change because of what happened in 2019. We all have the same goal. This year we all have the same ambition. have.
“And the fact that I will not be a driver for Scuderia Ferrari in 2025 does not mean that I do not want to be champions with them this year or that I do not want to win races this year.
“So I think it will be exactly the same. If anything, now I can focus on knowing more and then I can focus on race by race and make sure I have the best possible car and feeling for myself.” So we don't have to focus as much on development and the future.”
Sainz has not yet announced his plans beyond 2025, but there are rumors of links with Mercedes, Williams, Sauber and others, and he plans to become Audi's works team in 2026.
Read next: Carlos Sainz reacts to Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari in 2025
