This text doesn’t purpose to handle technical issues or present a chilly record of Carlos Sainz’s achievements throughout his Ferrari tenure since becoming a member of the Maranello staff again in 2021, when he changed four-time Components 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel. It’s merely a mirrored image, with phrases and punctuation, supposed to spotlight how unfair, unacceptable, and, sure, ridiculous, the hostility of a part of the Ferrari fanbase towards the Spaniard is.
For some, Carlos Sainz is a form of Pandora’s field, that vessel from Greek mythology containing all of the world’s evils stored separate from humanity till it was opened. “It’s raining? Blame it on the federal government!” was once the saying. As we speak, it appears Carlos Sainz’s identify might change that of political authority.
The Spanish driver dedicated a major “sin” and has since confronted absurd accusations: he joined Ferrari to play second fiddle however turned, in observe, a driver free to race as a result of his general efficiency degree was not so removed from the one expressed by his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc. Let’s set the file straight: when it comes to uncooked velocity, Charles Leclerc is and stays quicker than Carlos Sainz. There will be little question about this, and the numbers converse for themselves, particularly when it comes to qualifying laps, the place pure velocity involves the forefront.
However a driver is not only about that. An efficient driver should possess different attributes of their technical arsenal: strategic imaginative and prescient, the flexibility to learn the second of the race, adaptability to imperfect automobiles, and sadly there was loads of that for Ferrari, talent in guiding engineers’ technical improvement, and lots of different parts wanted to struggle for victory in Components 1.
Carlos Sainz possesses all these qualities and has confirmed it throughout his 4 years with the Italian aspect. The numbers are plain to see and can’t be disputed even by essentially the most excessive haters, those that in latest days have been exhibiting the worst of themselves on the standard social networks, public boards became shops for questionable opinions that ought to make their authors ashamed.
Many giggle in a totally silly method on the “downgrade” the Spaniard supposedly made by going to Williams for the 2025 Components 1 championship. In all probability, Carlos Sainz has been a sufferer of his personal technical caliber. Somebody like him would have been very helpful for a high staff like Crimson Bull, although to not Max Verstappen, who prefers to have a Sergio Pérez or a Liam Lawson by his aspect reasonably than somebody with high-level technical competence and psychological resilience. For the Dutchman it’s higher to race alongside a subordinate knight than a structured and difficult driver. And it appears that evidently staff principal Christian Horner is prepared to simply accept this case with the intention to hold his star driver completely satisfied, even if in 2024 Crimson Bull was out of the battle for the World Constructors’ Championship as a result of extraordinarily poor efficiency of the Mexican driver.
Mercedes additionally thought of the Spaniard, however his candidacy was dismissed not as a result of knowledgeable shortfall, however as a result of they determined to deal with an inner funding, the younger Italian driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, for a transitional yr like 2025. Briefly, Carlos Sainz was caught up in circumstances and had to decide on a noble staff in decline, however one with strong ambitions and the potential to slowly climb again up, probably leveraging the regulatory overhaul within the 2026 Components 1 season.
The Spanish driver carried out nicely at Ferrari however had to surrender his seat to a seven-time Components 1 world champion, a chance which the highest administration of the Maranello staff couldn’t afford to move up. Carlos Sainz turned a casualty of the brand new course: Ferrari staff principal Frederic Vasseur has at all times been very near Charles Leclerc, having mentored him, and has long-standing ties to Lewis Hamilton, whose profession he adopted from the beginning.
This doesn’t imply that the connection between the French supervisor and the Spanish driver was compromised, removed from it. Letting Carlos Sainz go on the finish of the 2024 Components 1 marketing campaign was a painful choice that would have prompted inner tensions at Ferrari. If this didn’t occur, it’s also due to Carlos Sainz’s professionalism, as he persistently prioritized the Maranello staff’s welfare.
In standard discourse, nonetheless, the narrative means that Carlos Sainz was self-serving. And why? As a result of in sure conditions, he raced, battling along with his Ferrari teammate. That’s what knowledgeable driver does, particularly in a context the place the staff principal permits freedom to duel. That is an apparent proven fact that some keyboard warriors have chosen to disregard of their far-fetched reconstructions.
Why all this hostility? There isn’t a single reply. It’s exhausting to decipher the psychological dynamics of followers, pushed extra by violent impulses than by rationality. Maybe Carlos Sainz is paying the value for the “unique sin” of being chosen by former Ferrari staff principal Mattia Binotto, who chosen him to exchange Sebastian Vettel when it was believed the German driver would in reality be supplied a contract renewal with the Maranello staff.
The present Audi govt is one other determine who faces harsh criticism, a few of which is justified. For a phase of the Ferrari fanbase, usually excessively divisive, the Spaniard’s arrival appeared to displace a crimson legend like Sebastian Vettel, and this has at all times rubbed some the flawed method.
But Carlos Sainz’s story in crimson is that of an ideal skilled who carried out along with his highs and the standard setbacks each driver faces all through their motorsport profession. Errors and missteps weren’t absent, however Carlos Sainz was at all times near Charles Leclerc, each on and off the monitor. Seeing a driver so dedicated to the Ferrari trigger being handled so crudely is painful and an affront to purpose.
Free yourselves from this prejudice and luxuriate in Ferrari’s progress, giving due credit score to a driver who helped write just a few pages of the Prancing Horse’s illustrious historical past. A historical past that may at all times transcend the people who constructed it, whether or not their names are Michael Schumacher, Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, or another driver who, now or sooner or later, embraces the Ferrari trigger.
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