Carlos Sainz suspects Lewis Hamilton will play second fiddle to Charles Leclerc following his blockbuster move to Ferrari. Hamilton has replaced Sainz at the Scuderia after more than a decade at Mercedes, where he won six of his seven F1 titles.
How the 40-year-old icon shapes up against Leclerc – widely regarded as the fastest qualifier in F1 – will be one of the fascinating subplots of the 2025 season, which begins at the Australian Grand Prix in mid-March. While Leclerc usually outpaced Sainz on a Saturday, their head-to-head race stats were much closer.
In their four years together, Sainz took four victories to Lelcerc’s six. While Leclerc wasn’t officially the lead driver, he was widely regarded as the team’s ‘chosen one’ given his longstanding relationship with the iconic Italian squad – whose driver academy he joined almost a decade ago – and team principal Fred Vasseur.
Therefore, when Hamilton unexpectedly enacted a break clause in his Mercedes contract, it was always going to be Sainz who made way, with the Spaniard eventually joining Williams. Asked for his 2025 drivers’ title predictions, Sainz named last season’s top three as the men to beat, snubbing Hamilton, who had a troubled final season with Mercedes, finishing seventh in the drivers’ standings.
“I don’t know [who’s going to win]. I think it will be among those first three [from 2024, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc] you have said,” Sainz told SoyMotor.
“If Mercedes make a good car, I would put [George] Russell in too. I think he is at a very good level. Any of those can beat each other this year.”
As for Hamilton’s prospects, Sainz says it will hinge on how long it takes him to adapt to the Ferrari, having only driver Mercedes-powered cars throughout his illustrious career.
“I don’t know, it will all depend on how long it takes Lewis to adapt,” said Sainz, 30. “I think it’s something that takes a different amount of time for each driver.
“For all of us who change teams, there will be a period of adaptation. It’s impossible to know what it will be like for each one.
“There have been drivers who have taken a year, others five races, others half a year. It depends on how long it takes you to discover where the last two tenths of the car are.”
Hamilton himself says he feels invigorated by his move to Ferrari. Speaking at the F1 season launch event at London’s O2 on Tuesday, he said: “The word I’m thinking of is ‘invigorated’ because I feel so full of life and so much energy because everything is new. I’m so proud to be part of the team, something new and exciting.”
