Steiner’s extraordinary ‘regret’ claim amid Hamilton ‘unrest’ at Ferrari

There are “some people” within Ferrari who “regret” replacing Carlos Sainz with Lewis Hamilton, especially as the latter has brought “unrest” to the team, whereas Sainz has calmly gone about his business at Williams.

That’s the opinion of former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner after Sainz secured a podium at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a feat Hamilton has yet to achieve this season.

Lewis Hamilton has yet to reach the podium, Carlos Sainz did so in Baku

Sainz’s four-year tenure with Ferrari ended last season when the Spaniard was informed that he would be replaced by Hamilton in F1 2025. The news didn’t only shock the world of motorsport, but also Sainz as he was “99% sure” he would continue with the Italian stable.

He subsequently signed a multi-year contract with Williams, the team that finished second last in 2024, 635 points down on Ferrari, which finished runner-up to McLaren.

And yet it is Sainz, not Hamilton, who has participated in this year’s champagne celebrations.

The 31-year-old qualified second in Baku and raced his way to third place to secure Williams’ first full-points podium since 2017.

As for Hamilton, he was down in 12th place on the grid and could only recover to eighth, gifted that position through Ferrari team orders.

Steiner believes Hamilton’s performances, which have left him trailing Charles Leclerc in the season’s stats, are “sure” to have some at Ferrari regretting that decision to drop Sainz for the seven-time World Champion.

F1 2025: The season’s winners and losers

👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship

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“I think some people in the team do,” Steiner told The Red Flags podcast when put to him that there could be regrets.

“I think obviously management cannot feel regret because you would be admitting that you did something wrong, and you cannot do that.

“But I’m sure that some of the guys there are feeling regret, because Ferrari finished eighth and ninth in Baku. Carlos Sainz, now with Williams, finished third.

“So it’s like, I guess the guy feeling best about it is Carlos Sainz.”

Put to him in the ‘Gas or Brake’ segment of the podcast that ‘Carlos’ podium proves Ferrari made the wrong choice’, Steiner gave that one “gas!”

“I mean,” he explained, “Carlos was doing a good job.

“They wouldn’t have all the interference from outside of Lewis not performing, so the team could focus on going racing, making things better, instead of always trying to find out why Lewis doesn’t like the car.

“They had a known quantity with Carlos. He could deliver.

“And Lewis obviously, I mean, I respect Lewis, but in the moment, for the unrest he brings into the team and around the team, is it a worthwhile investment? Maybe not.

“Also, the investment money-wise, I’m pretty sure it’s a lot higher with Lewis than with Carlos.”

Sainz celebrated his podium in Baku by declaring that “this one means even more” to him than his very first with McLaren back in 2019 as it came in the midst of a difficult first season with the Grove team.

Sainz arrived in Baku with his best result as a Williams driver P8s in Jeddah and Imola, with the Spaniard having not scored a single point in the six races before Baku.

Asked if the 31-year-old’s third place would’ve silenced anyone in the paddock questioning his ability, Steiner said: “I believe it’s always when you have results like Carlos had this year.

“But again, you can see Carlos, he stayed calm. He never tried to find excuses. You know, whatever he did, when there was something wrong, he questioned it, but didn’t dwell on it, just put his head down and went for the next result. And he got this result.

“He believes in himself. He knows what he can do. He works hard, and then the results come. And he was patient.

“But you have always these people out there, the critics, which say, ‘Oh, he was overhyped, he cannot even beat Albon’.”

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