Carlos Sainz refuses to reveal what Ferrari said during the conversation where they informed him he would be losing his seat to Lewis Hamilton. The Formula One community was left stunned in February 2024 as Ferrari confirmed that the seven-time world champion would be joining the team, alongside Charles Leclerc.
One person which the news blindsided more than any other was Sainz, who had no idea he would be losing his seat with the Italian outfit. The Spaniard, 30, had been in discussions to renew his own contract at Maranello, which was set to expire at the end of the 2024 season, and expected to stay on for at least another year. Sainz finished the season with the Scuderia before joining Williams for the current 2025 campaign, while Hamilton bid farewell to Mercedes, where he had enjoyed the most successful driver-team partnership in F1 history.
Sainz has now shed light on the moment he was informed of Fred Vasseur’s bombshell decision via phonecall, while stating that Ferrari didn’t sufficiently explain why he was being dropped.
He said on the High Performance Podcast: “I received a phone call and I suddenly received the news. I was completely shocked. I went from believing I was going to be in Ferrari for a while to, ‘What am I going to do now?’. It never occurred to me that that could happen.”
When asked whether they gave him any reasons, he continued: “No, not really. There weren’t many reasons. I’m not going to go a lot into the detail of those conversations but I was like, ‘Okay now it’s my time to shine and to prove to everyone what I’m worth. It’s the most important moment of my life now.’
“I went into that late February and March period with the mentality of I’m just going to go for it. That gave me a bit of a kick and I think it made me a better driver.” Sainz had disappointingly finished seventh in the drivers’ championship the season before, which may have influenced Ferrari’s decision as it marked a drop off.
He ended the 2024 season fifth in the standings and went on to have talks with Sauber, Alpine and even Mercedes in what would have been a straight swap with Hamilton. Sainz, however, insists a move to the Silver Arrows didn’t gain momentum despite extensive talks with Toto Wolff.
Asked if he was close to securing a contract offer, he replied: “Not really. We spoke a lot with Toto and everyone else at the time and I was certainly one of the options that was considered. But how close was I? You can ask Toto that. But I think he is very happy with Kimi Antonelli.”
Both Sainz and Hamilton have experienced teething issues with their respective new teams this season. The Brit is yet to secure a podium finish at the halfway point in the season, sitting sixth in the standings, while Sainz is down in 15th.