Carlos Sainz is contracted to Ferrari until end of 2024, but the Spaniard hopes he'll have clarity on his future beyond that term by the start of next year's F1 campaign.
Sainz joined Ferrari from McLaren in 2021 and the Scuderia extended the 28-year-old's initial two-year deal by an additional two years in early 2022.
Amid recent rumors of Ferrari giving a blank check to Lewis Hamilton to pass through the golden gates of Maranello, reports emerged in the Italian media claiming that the Italian outfit's top brass was growing frustrated with Sainz's relative underperformance.
However, ahead of last weekend's round of racing in Monte Carlo, Sainz had finished among the top six at every race, although he was classified P12 in Australia after being hit with a post-race five-second penalty.
©Ferrari
Sainz says he is unfazed by the outlandish gossip.
"I know at this time of the year there are always these kinds of rumours, it’s silly season time," he said.
"A week and a half ago I was going to Audi, one week ago Charles was going to Mercedes, now Lewis is coming to Ferrari.
"It’s the story of our lives when it comes to this time of the year. I’ve been long enough in F1, more than eight years, to know that it’s that time of the year."
Sainz says that after eight seasons at the pinnacle of motorsport, he's grown pretty much immune to whatever F1's rumor mill spins.
"Back in the day you would have read the media a lot more, try and find out a lot more, now I prefer to focus on my Monaco weekend and don’t care about what the others are saying or doing," he commented.
"Focus on myself, it’s always worked out fine for me in the past."
©Ferrari
Nevertheless, last year's British Grand Prix winner hopes he'll have his future beyond 2024 signed and sealed, one way or the other, by the time next year's season kicks off.
"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 said.
"But if you heard me on 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 in Renault and I didn’t enjoy it at all.
"Everything planned out, that would be [the] target."
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