Former LeMans winners breaks silence of Ferrari replacing Carlos Sainz with Lewis Hamilton

Former LeMans winner Jacky Ickx feels that it was quite sad for Carlos Sainz to lose his seat to Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, but it was ultimately a result of the Brit being a bigger overall package. The Spaniard joined the Italian team in 2021 and was part of the squad for four years.

During this time, Sainz showed significant results and was very close to teammate Charles Leclerc, who is rated very highly by everyone in the F1 paddock. In 2022, he secured his first-ever pole position, followed by his first-ever career win in Silverstone.

While Sainz was not the outright fastest driver at Ferrari, that accolade went to Leclerc. When Hamilton was announced as his replacement, however, it didn't come as much of a shock, as the 7x world champion is a much bigger profile compared to the Spaniard.

Jacky Ickx also touched on it when he tried to explain why Ferrari took the call. Talking to Mundo Deportivo, the former Ferrari racer admitted that it was sad that Sainz was replaced, but now the Spaniard had to move on to the next challenge. He said:

"Carlos Sainz has done very well at Ferrari. Ferrari were tempted to sign Hamilton, probably for marketing reasons , and probably because Lewis wanted a new experience and to include Ferrari in his history. We'll see. There's nothing to reproach Carlos for at Ferrari. Carlos has been successful, he has won Grands Prix... but that's in the past now. He has to think about what's next,"

He added:

"There are many important aspects to F1, not just politics. There are also economics, marketing, but it's all about winning."

Carlos Sainz has to focus now on life after Ferrari

Carlos Sainz will now be a Williams racer the next time he turns up to test an F1 car and Jacky Ickx felt that it was important for the Spaniard to be focused on what's next for him.

The partnership with Charles Leclerc at Ferrari worked because both were competitive against each other but that's in the past and the Spaniard's focus should be on the future. Ickx said:

"The Leclerc-Sainz partnership worked. It worked because they both won races and they were always very close to each other. I don't know how it happened. The only thing I can say is that it's sad that Sainz is leaving Ferrari, but you have to move on and you can't constantly think about what could have been and why it didn't happen. No. You have to be focused on what you have and do the best with what you have."

The Spaniard would be teaming up with Alex Albon in the 2025 F1 season at Williams and it would be interesting to see what kind of impact he can have on the team.