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Sainz pledges support despite farewell: ‘Team above all’ at Ferrari

Carlos Sainz has made it clear his commitment to Ferrari and to teammate Charles Leclerc remains firm despite his departure from the Scuderia at the end of the year in favor of Lewis Hamilton.

The Spaniard will close his four-year chapter with the Italian outfit next December in Abu Dhabi, a stint that so far has seen him bag two wins.

However, Ferrari’s high-profile driver switch has left him out in the cold, a situation that many believe will fuel personal agendas and undermine team spirit at the House of Maranello.

But speaking at the launch earlier this week of Ferrari’s new SF-24, Sainz has dispelled and doubts about his loyalty and pledged his full support to his team and to Leclerc if the Scuderia calls for it.

Read also:

Leclerc: Two or three wins in 2024 ‘not my target’

“Of course. I’ve always been a team player,” Sainz said. “Everything I’ve done in Formula 1 I think I’ve been a great team player, I’ve always been exemplary in that sense as a driver for any team.

“I will definitely help Charles if I have to, the same way that I expect Charles to help me if I fight for a World Championship myself too.”

©Ferrari

Sainz indeed intends to give it his all and won’t hold anything back in his bid to conclude his story with Ferrari on a high.

“I think the amount of pressure that I will put on myself, on the team and my engineers and everyone involved, I think will be exactly the same,” he added.

“The hunger to win races, the hunger to become champions doesn’t change just because of what’s happening in ’25. We all have the same objective. We all have the same ambitions this year.

“And the fact that I’m not going to be a Scuderia Ferrari driver in 2025 doesn’t mean that we don’t want to become champions together this year or win races this year.

“So I think it’s going to be exactly the same.

“If anything, I can focus even more knowing in the present and then focus more on the race by race, making sure I have the best possible car and feeling underneath me and not having to focus so much on development and in the future.”

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.