Ferrari has downgraded its driver lineup by replacing Carlos Sainz with Lewis Hamilton, claims F1 YouTuber

F1 YouTuber Josh Revell claimed that Lewis Hamilton replacing Carlos Sainz at Ferrari has resulted in the 'downgrade of the team's driver lineup'. The seven-time world champion completed a dream move to Maranello at the beginning of the 2025 season to join hands with the most iconic F1 team on the grid.

The British driver had been associated with Mercedes for close to three decades and raced his entire life under the German brand. But in a shock switch, he decided to activate his release clause when the opportunity to join the Prancing Horses and replace Carlos Sainz arose.

In an episode of The Blatantly Biased Racing Podcast uploaded on January 14, Revell revealed that he disagreed with Lewis Hamilton's recruitment in the lineup as he believed that Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc complimented each other well within the team. Discussing the Leclerc-Sainz dynamic, Revell said:

"They're pretty harmonious in their relationships and you can guarantee that if one of them wasn't performing the other one certainly would. So there's that push and pull, do you want to go for the future or do you want to go with a proven quantity. Arguably you know a lineup which has been downgraded somehow by bringing in Lewis. Ferrari did not need to that lineup." (45:00 onwards).

Lewis Hamilton will race alongside Charles Leclerc from 2025 on a multi-year deal that would see him be with Ferrari until the end of the 2026 season at least.

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Carlos Sainz opens up on his reactions to Ferrari signing Lewis Hamilton

Former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz said that he was "99%" sure he would continue racing for the Scuderia before the announcement of the seven-time F1 champion was made public.

While appearing on the Beyond the Grid podcast in December last year, the Spanish driver, who had been with Ferrari since 2021, spoke about the difficult winter break heading into the 2024 season and said:

“I think at the beginning of the year, I was tested more than I’ve ever been tested before and life put me in a situation that was not comfortable at all. I was told that I was not going to continue with the team that I was 99% sure I was going to continue with going into that winter. It was a massive shock to my hopes and I obviously didn’t enjoy that moment."

Despite getting ousted from the Maranello-based outfit, the 30-year-old had a solid final year with them as he got two race wins to his name and finished in P5, two places ahead of his future incumbent Lewis Hamilton.

Carlos Sainz eventually signed for the Williams F1 team after being targeted by multiple midfield teams on the grid but was largely overlooked by the top teams like Mercedes and Red Bull for the 2025 season.