MADRID, 19 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) confessed this Tuesday that he would not “like to start next season” without knowing where he will race in 2025, although he insisted that his “number one priority” is to continue in the Italian team, with the that he hopes to reach a renewal agreement as he feels “perfectly valued”, at the same time that he assured that he has “no preference between Madrid or Barcelona” as the venue for the Spanish Grand Prix.
“The reality is that there have been conversations. My goal is to start 2024 knowing where I am going to race in 2025, I would not like to start without knowing what my destination will be. My number one priority is to renew with Ferrari. I am very happy, both parties We are there. We have to agree, the objective is to continue, we have three months to reach that agreement,” the driver advanced before the Christmas Karting organized by Estrella Galicia 0,0.
The Madrid native, who ends his contract with the Italian team at the end of next season, avoided commenting on “speculation” about the duration of his next contract. “I want to renew and I like to do it for more than a year. I feel perfectly valued by the entire Ferrari family, I feel loved and I will renew if I feel that I am valued. I am convinced that if we both want it, we will reach an agreement of renewal,” he noted.
Sainz also reiterated that his “priority is for there to be a Grand Prix in Spain”, although he has no “preference between Madrid or Barcelona.” “I want it to go out in the best possible way and for us to be an example to follow. For the Spanish GP to be iconic and make a difference,” he said.
“Let it be a race that the drivers and the people who attend go and leave a good image on them. If it is Barcelona or Madrid… As a Madrid native I would be delighted to have one in Madrid, but the priority is for it to be held in Spain” , added about the option of the Spanish capital hosting a GP of the 'Great Circus'.
“WE HAVE LEARNED THE LESSON TO FIND THE KEY”
As a balance of 2023, the Madrid native celebrated the “very good moments” of the season. “I will never forget Singapore and Monza, it was very nice. We would have liked it to have gone better, we expected a little more, to have fought for more things. It has been an important season, we are going to take a step in 2024,” he said.
“This year has been hard, we have had a car that has always done better in qualifying than in the race, every Sunday you left a bitter feeling, always a little behind. The race put us in our place and you left a little frustrated. We That little step is missing in the race,” he added.
And in that frustration, the 'culprit' was Red Bull and its dominance. “They understand very well what the car has to have and the feeling it has to give to the driver,” he praised. “It's a slightly misleading feeling. In qualifying it seems like we can beat or equal them, but in the race they put three tenths or half a second on you per lap,” he lamented regarding the differences with the Austrians.
“We have learned that its great advantage is that it is a very versatile car, it can compete on all circuits. The differential and dominant factor is the races. We believe we have learned the lesson to find the key. 2023 has shown us that we were not going in the right direction, we have to reset,” he warned.
Thus, Sainz pointed out that “time will tell” if they can compete for the title in 2024, although at least they have to “be capable.” “But it is a very big step for next year, it is a very difficult goal. If there is someone capable, it is Ferrari, after our progress,” he applauded the evolution of the Italians.
“I DON'T KNOW IF F1 WILL DIE OF SUCCESS, BUT WITH 24 RACES IT MUST ADAPT”
Specifically, the Madrid native believes that Ferrari's “weak points” were “the race pace and the tires.” “I don't think strategy is our Achilles heel, although it is still a point to improve. If you don't have a fast car on Sunday, strategy appears to be more complicated, because it is more difficult to get it right,” he analyzed.
However, “excluding Red Bull”, Sainz stated that this is “the most even F-1 in recent times.” “We are all going to get closer to each other, also due to the regulatory limit, with little room to do something different. Theory and logic say that we should be more equal. That is why we should not detract from Red Bull , they are one hundred percent in all areas of the car and performance,” he commented.
And starting in 2024 they must compete in a calendar of 24 races. “I don't know if F-1 will die of success, but with 24 races it will have to adapt and find ways to make weekends and trips as light as possible. I am the first delighted to run all 24, but with a calendar and schedules that make sense. It's about enduring races in a healthy way and with good energy levels,” he noted about the future of the competition.
“It is impossible to do 24 Las Vegas, we were puppets with media, events, promotion… It doesn't seem bad to me, but the calendar format has to change. We have to compensate for it, they would have to give us time for ourselves. The balance between spectacle and You always have to find sport, you have to adapt,” he added about making spectacle and sport compatible.
Sainz insisted that the current sprint format does not work. “I don't like it, they're going to change it. It was a Sunday appetizer and it revealed to all of us what was going to happen. It takes away the incentive of the Grand Prix a little,” he criticized.
Finally, the Madrid native recalled his defense of the podium in Monza, fighting with the two Red Bulls and his teammate, Charles Leclerc, in a race in which he sent “a message” to the Italian fans. “Within the team it didn't change much, they know what I'm capable of. It was a busy, fun race, leaving me with my life to keep that Ferrari first. It was another moment of bonding with them. It didn't change my status or my perception in the team “It's been good since I arrived,” he concluded.