Carlos Sainz reacts to ‘surprise’ Lewis Hamilton Ferrari move and sets timeline for 2025 seat choice

Carlos Sainz has revealed he only found out about Lewis Hamilton taking his Ferrari seat a few weeks before the rest of the world did.

The Spaniard’s stint at Ferrari will come to an end next year when current Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will move across from Brackley, leaving Sainz currently without a seat for 2025.

The 29-year-old said he too was caught out by the “surprise” move, in his first press conference since the news became public.

Carlos Sainz reacts to Lewis Hamilton Ferrari move

Sainz was speaking to media including PlanetF1.com during the launch of the SF-24 and said he was also “surprised” by the shock news which was announced earlier this month.

“Obviously, I was surprised like everyone in the Formula 1 world was,” Sainz said. “I think everyone was surprised in a way with what happened.

“From my side, you can obviously understand that I got to know the news a bit earlier than anyone else, but it’s true that then I had some weeks to reflect, some weeks to prepare and some weeks to also get ready for the car launch, for the first race of the season.

“So it gives you a bit of time to digest it, to take your own conclusions and to focus on the 2024 season ahead.”

Hamilton’s move threw Sainz’s future up in the air with the driver now keen to find his next move to keep his F1 career going. But he also admitted it would be the “most important three or four years of my career” and so he wanted to take his time to make the right decision.

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“I think as much as I said that I wanted to have my future sorted before the first race I think the scenario has changed quite a bit as you can imagine,” he said. “So I think it is going to be probably a longer process.

“We’re going to have ahead of me, probably my most important three or four years of my career, where I want to make sure that I’m in the right place at the right time.

“I want to make sure I pick the right next destination for me so I’m going to take my time to think about it, to listen to all the options, to have a look at all the options so that I can just feel calm that when I take the decision, I’ve given myself enough time and enough information.

“Now, having said that, I think it’s completely possible to separate one thing from the other. I have a good management team that also will take care of that. So my full focus will be on this year and I’m going to start the season as strong as I can, putting all my effort in being quick and the other thing will sort itself out as time goes by.”

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