Lewis Hamilton the target of veiled dig with Ferrari missing Carlos Sainz effect
Carlos Sainz was forced to make way for Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari
Although Luca di Montezemolo did not name Lewis Hamilton, he says it is “clear” the changes he’d make if he were back in charge of Ferrari having mentioned the synergy between Charles Leclerc and his former teammate Carlos Sainz.
But at the end of the day, there’s only one driver who can be banked on to succeed and that’s Red Bull’s four-time World Champion Max Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton or Carlos Sainz? That is the question
Ferrari shocked many in the paddock last year when the Scuderia announced in a very brief statement that it had signed seven-time World Champion Hamilton, putting Sainz out of a job.
Although the Spaniard was in talks with the Italian team about renewing his contract, revealing he was “99.9 per cent” sure he would remain a Ferrari driver for 2025, team principal Fred Vasseur put paid to that when he informed Sainz that Hamilton would replace him in F1 2025.
Sainz eventually signed with Williams with both the Spaniard and Hamilton struggling to find their feet with their new teams.
Lewis Hamilton vs Charles Leclerc: Ferrari head-to-head scores for F1 2025
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
While Hamilton was expected to fight for race wins and potentially the World title, he’s yet to even step on the podium, while Sainz was widely tipped to destroy Alex Albon only to find himself coming off second best.
Second best, that is, until Baku, where he claimed Williams’ first full-points podium since 2017 as he raced his way to third place.
In a race won by Verstappen, who led from lights to flag, Sainz was the ‘Driver of the Day’ despite falling from second to third when he was overtaken by George Russell.
Baku may just be a snapshot in a season of 24 races, but for former Ferrari chief di Montezemolo, it said a lot about the calibre of the drivers on the grid.
“Today I have to say, for me, Verstappen is by far the number one,” he told Reuters.
“Even in the last race in Baku, difficult conditions, he never lost control. He was always quick. He never makes mistakes.”
Going on to speak about Sainz, who together with Leclerc nearly clinched the Constructors’ Championship for Ferrari last season, he added: “Sainz and Leclerc was a very good couple.
“But no question, Verstappen is by far the best in my view. By far.”
Cryptically he added: “If tomorrow morning I will be obliged to go to work in Ferrari, in one week I have clear in my mind who to put in different positions.”
More on Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz from PlanetF1.com
Hamilton’s move to Ferrari this season has yet to live up to the hype.
Although he took a surprise pole-to-flag sprint win at round two in China, that’s been the total sum of his season’s highlights.
The seven-time World Champion has struggled to adapt to the characteristics of the Ferrari F1 car and its engine, with the Briton yet to add to his 202 podiums while in red.
His best grand prix performances have yielded three P4 finishes in a season in which his teammate Charles Leclerc has featured on the podium five times, putting him 44 points ahead of Hamilton with the teammates fifth and sixth in the Drivers’ standings.
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