Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari contract expires on the finish of the 2024 season
Carlos Sainz says he desires to keep away from being left to drive on an expiring Ferrari contract in 2024, amid continued hypothesis over his future with the team.
Sainz’s present deal with Ferrari expires on the finish of subsequent season, however current studies claimed the Italian team have been eager to signal Lewis Hamilton, who’s at present solely contracted to Mercedes till the top of 2023.
Hamilton and Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur each dismissed the studies forward of the Monaco Grand Prix, however uncertainty stays over the Spaniard’s future after an unconvincing begin to his 2023 marketing campaign.
Sainz, who has additionally been linked with a transfer to Audi when the German producer enters F1 in 2026, says his main precedence is to keep away from a repeat of 2018 when he drove for Renault with out figuring out the place he can be the next season.
“Obviously I don’t want to reveal what my strategies are in terms of contractual negotiations because it’s something that I never disclose,” Sainz stated.
“But if you’ve heard me in interviews in the past, I’ve always said I like going into an F1 season knowing where I’m going to race the year after, because I went through that experience at Renault and I didn’t enjoy it at all, the way everything panned out, so that would be my target.”
Asked if that meant he wish to have his future resolved earlier than the top of the 2023 season, Sainz added: “Not necessarily this year but before the start of next year or during the start of next year.”
Carlos Sainz says he was caught unexpectedly at his team’s resolution on his first pit cease after a irritating Monaco GP for Ferrari.
Sainz not searching for reassurances as ‘foolish season’ begins
Speculation over Hamilton’s future got here only a few weeks after Sainz’s Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc had been linked with a change to Mercedes, which the Spaniard sees as affirmation that F1’s ‘foolish season’ has begun.
Vasseur stated that he felt no want to clarify something to his drivers amid the Hamilton rumours, and Sainz confirmed that he hasn’t felt the necessity to search reassurances.
“Honestly, no, because I didn’t feel like I need to,” he stated. “I know at this time of the year there’s always this kind of rumours to happen. It’s silly season time.
“Per week and a half in the past I used to be going to Audi, every week in the past Charles was going to Mercedes, now Lewis is coming to Ferrari – it is the story of our lives relating to this time of the yr.
“I’ve been long enough in F1, more than eight years, to know that this is that time of the year.”
Lewis Hamilton insists he is pleased at Mercedes and downplayed studies of a attainable transfer to Ferrari.
The 28-year-old is driving for a ninth season in F1, and says he’s far much less prone to be distracted by rumours at this stage of his profession.
“I think back in the day you would read the media a lot more, try to find out a lot more,” he stated.
“Now I prefer to focus on my weekend and just don’t care what the others are saying or doing and focus on myself – that’s always worked out fine for me.”
Sainz endured one other difficult weekend on the Monaco Grand Prix as he crashed in follow on Friday earlier than dropping from fourth to eighth within the race after spinning within the moist.
The 28-year-old will probably be eager to placed on a powerful efficiency at his residence race this weekend, with Formula 1 returning to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Vasseur: Big room for enchancment in Ferrari’s automotive
Ferrari have solely claimed one podium end to this point in 2023
Ferrari will probably be bringing a considerable improve package deal to Spain as they search to get again into race-winning rivalry after an underwhelming begin to the 2023 season which has yielded just one podium end.
The Italian outfit have often been robust on a Saturday – together with claiming pole place in Azerbaijan for each the Grand Prix and Sprint – however have struggled on race tempo on Sundays.
Mercedes have modified their automotive idea as they search to shut as much as Red Bull’s dominant automotive, however Vasseur has dominated out Ferrari following an analogous path, feeling there may be nonetheless important efficiency to seek out of their SF23.
“It’s not just about the potential and package and upgrades, we also have to upgrade the car into a better window. The first target for us is not just to put downforce on the car, it is to have the car a bit more consistent,” Vasseur instructed the media on Tuesday.
“On high of the replace we’ve got a giant room for enchancment with the present automotive by way of efficiency.
Charles Leclerc sits down with Martin Brundle to discuss the season so far and his recent crashes.
“I might say that so long as I’m satisfied we are able to enhance the present automotive, it might be a mistake, in the course of the season, to alter fully the goal.
“Should the team decide during the 2023 season to bring a completely different car, I think it will bring us to October and I am not sure it’s the best solution to improve in the mid-term view.
“We have already got subsequent yr’s automotive within the wind tunnel, and we’re engaged on the subsequent undertaking, however to attempt to introduce a totally completely different automotive within the season, it’s fairly vital at this stage of the season.”
He added: “You all the time have to remain calm, if the automotive was so tough to drive, I can not think about we’d be one tenth off Verstappen [in Monaco GP Qualifying].
“If we are suffering from something, it is consistency over the lap, over the race or from corner to corner and it’s where we must improve but mainly for the race, but we are working on it.
“It’s not that we’re out of the tempo by potential [of the car].”
Ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix we have a look again at a number of the most dramatic moments from earlier races on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Sky Sports F1’s stay Spanish GP schedule
Thursday June 1
2pm: Drivers’ Press Conference
Friday June 2
8.50am: F3 Practice
10.00am: F2 Practice
12pm: Spanish GP Practice One (session begins 12.30pm)
1.55pm: F3 Qualifying
2.50pm: F2 Qualifying
3.45pm: Spanish GP Practice Two (session begins 4pm)
5.15pm: The F1 Show: Spain
Saturday June 3
9.25am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Spanish GP Practice Three (session begins 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Spanish GP Qualifying build-up
3pm: Spanish GP Qualifying
6.15pm: IndyAutomotive – Detroit GP Qualifying
Sunday June 4
8.50am: F3 Feature Race
10.20am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Spanish GP build-up
2pm: THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag Spanish GP response
5.45pm: Indy NXT – Detroit GP
8pm: IndyAutomotive – Detroit GP
Will Red Bull’s profitable run in F1 2023 proceed on the Spanish GP? Watch all of the motion stay on Sky Sports F1 from June 2-4 Get Sky Sports
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