Carlos Sainz says his recent form and especially his win last month in Singapore won’t change his approach to his contract negotiations with Ferrari at the end of the year.
Sainz and teammate Charles Leclerc are both contracted to the Scuderia until the end of 2024. But earlier this year, the Spaniard expressed his hope that he would roll into next season with clarity on his future, one way of the other.
Sainz therefore expects to enter discussions with Ferrari in the coming months.
After spending part of his 2022 campaign in the shadow of his teammate, Sainz asserted himself with his maiden F1 win at Silverstone.
This season, Sainz has continued his progress and so far, the 28-year-old is outpacing Leclerc in F1’s Drivers’ standings, thanks in large part to his recent strong track record that includes successive pole positions at Monza and in Singapore, and his win at Marina Bay, the first for a non-Red Bull driver.
With the F1 season still in full swing, Sainz expects that he’ll sit down with the Scuderia when the winter break sets in.
“It’s not a question of not wanting to renew, it’s just that we haven’t sat down, we’ve been travelling all day, and the priority is to finish the season in the best possible way,” he said.
“Why are you going to start negotiating with four months left in the winter, when you can have time and calm?
“My future, I think I have said it several times, will be decided, or I will try to decide it, in winter.
“You know what my priority or intention is in the medium to long term, or in the short, medium and long term, and I hope we can find out in the winter.”
One might think that Sainz’s recent run of form would allow him to kick off talks at Maranello from a position of strength. But he says that neither team nor driver will have changed their perception of each other in recent weeks.
“If you’re in a good moment in your racing career, it’s always easier to negotiate than if you’re in a bad one,” he said.
“But I don’t think the last few races have changed Ferrari’s view of me or my view of Ferrari because I think we both knew the ability and potential we have, and my view in winter was going to be the same whether I won in Singapore or not.”
An important component of that “view” is the mental comfort Sainz has built at Ferrari, a team where he feels appreciated and “valued”.
“If I’m here it’s because someone will have valued me enough to be in the best team in history, the rest are subjective points of view,” he explained.
“But what matters to me, those who are in Formula 1, the other drivers and team managers, value me as I should be valued.
“In that sense when it comes to pure work or performance, everyone does it without favouritism.”
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