Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz wants contract clarity before 2024 F1 season

MADRID – Carlos Sainz is entering the final year of his contract with Ferrari, and would like clarity on his future before the start of the new Formula One season.

Ferrari have reportedly signed teammate Charles Leclerc to a five-year extension earlier in December, although there were also reports that the Monaco driver has yet to put pen to paper but will do so soon.

Sainz would also like an extension in place to remove any distractions heading into the season.

“My goal is to start 2024 knowing where I’m going to race in 2025,” the Spaniard said at a sponsor event in Madrid, reported Motorsport.com. “I wouldn’t like to start the season without knowing my next destination.”

Sainz, 29, is coming off a season in which he finished seventh in the drivers’ standings with 200 points – in a campaign in which Max Verstappen and Red Bull utterly dominated – and said he would prefer to stay with Ferrari.

He added that he is “convinced” that will happen based on his discussions with team boss Fred Vasseur, who recently said that he was comfortable with the contract situation of both drivers.

“My priority is to stay at Ferrari for many more years,” Sainz added.

“I’m very happy, both parties are very happy and the objective is to continue, but we have to agree and we have these three months until the next race to reach that agreement.

“Obviously I want to renew and I’d like to renew for more than one year, (and) not just two. You know my intentions and, honestly, I feel perfectly valued by Fred and by the whole Ferrari family in general, I feel loved.

“Therefore, I will renew if I feel that way and I feel that I am valued. That as a driver that is the main priority. I am convinced that if we both want to, we will reach an agreement on a duration that I am happy with.”

When asked about his driver situation the previous week, Vasseur said that there will be a decision “soon”.

“I told (the press) that I would try to take a decision before the end of the year. But I have to admit that the last part of the season was a big chaos for everybody. I think that it was very demanding,” he said.

“We had meetings and we started the discussions, but we are late compared to the initial plan. But it’s not an issue at all. We are much in advance compared to Mercedes (announcing new deals for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in late August).

“We have still a lot of weeks and months in front of us. We are easy on this and will take the decision soon.”

Hamilton was linked with a move to Ferrari earlier last season, but the British seven-time world champion ended all speculation when he signed a reported £50 million-a-year (S$84 million) extension with Mercedes that will take him to the end of the 2025 season.

Ferrari finished third behind champions Red Bull and fell short of second-placed Mercedes by a mere three points.

Leclerc was fifth in the driver standings, behind the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Sergio Perez, Hamilton and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

Sainz won the Singapore Grand Prix in September, the only driver to stop Red Bull from a clean sweep of all 22 races. REUTERS