Sainz failed to catch Norris in Abu Dhabi. The constructors' championship faded away on the treacherous curves of the track Yas Marina, on which, among other things, Ferrari has never won from 2009 to today. Thus ends Sainz's adventure in Ferrari. A driver who, in four intense seasons, has been able to thrill the fans. From tomorrow he will begin his adventure in Williams.
Sainz second in Abu Dhabi: the perfect ending to a beautiful story was missing
The happy ending that fans and team were hoping for did not arrive. Unfortunately, Norris' McLaren proved uncatchable today. Yet Carlos Sainz gave it his all in fighting against the great performance of the papaya car. For almost the entire race, the Spaniard remained breathing down the neck of his friend and driver number 4 of the English team. So much so that Sainz almost seemed to be able to get him in his sights at the end of the first stint. Instead, nothing doing. Norris, once he restarted from the pits with the hard compounds, proved to be uncatchable. A difference in performance of just a few tenths, which however, added up on each lap, became a sufficient gap for the English driver to win.
Thus ends the adventure of Carlos Sainz in Ferrari. A beautiful story that, despite the ups and downs due to the car's performance, has been able to give emotions and satisfaction to both parties involved. Now, the roads are separating and for Sainz the blue Williams suit is already ready and hanging in the paddock of the historic English team. In fact, the Spaniard will already be on the track tomorrow with his new team for a filming day, in order to start getting familiar with his new team.
Looking back, however, Carlos Sainz has grown a lot in these years, reaching a level that places him among the top drivers on the grid. We remember him, in 2020, still as a young promise about to blossom. Well, after all these years we can say with certainty that Sainz has become a complete driver. Fast in qualifying on a single lap, excellent reading of the race, which Leclerc often lacked, and, above all, a driver capable of defending and attacking like few others on the grid. All skills that have also earned him the four victories achieved in as many years in red: UK in 2022, Singapore in 2023 and Australia and Mexico this year. Together with his teammate, Sainz deserved this constructors' championship. Unfortunately, however, McLaren has been able to be more consistent in performance throughout the year, despite some imperfections and some errors from its two drivers.
Sainz grateful to Ferrari for these four years: "with them I won my first race"
Carlos Sainz climbs onto the podium at Yas Marina thanks to his second place, but with the awareness that it will take time before he can return to such levels. In fact, his adventure in Williams will certainly not be a walk in the park. Especially considering how the English team ended the season, once again out of the points. Sainz is already thinking about the future: "My goal from now on is to get back with Williams where we need to be.”. But the Spaniard's heart is partly divided between his two former teams, Ferrari and McLaren. Sainz congratulated the latter in post-race interviews.Congratulations first of all to McLaren, they deserved this championship. They were very solid the last two-thirds of the season and incredible.”.
The English team was too strong for the dreams and hopes of the red team, which however, thanks to Sainz and Leclerc, achieved the maximum that could be hoped for on the track, as Carlos himself recalls. “Obviously there are mixed feelings. Second place was the maximum seeing Norris' pace with McLaren. I gave it my all. Especially in the first stint it seemed like we could keep up with them. Then with the hard tyres they had those extra two tenths of speed that put them out of our reach. As far as we're concerned, it's been a difficult year though. we must be proud definitely. We hope to be able to return here (on the podium) very soon”.
Not an easy time for Sainz who, as life often shows, has had no effect on the results and improvements achieved over the past four years. None of the top teams have shown interest in his profile and, from tomorrow, he will already be an ex-Ferrari driver. Yet, as mentioned, Carlos has no regrets. "The return lap was exciting, with all the engineers talking to me on the radio. I am very grateful to have been part of this amazing team for four years. I had the opportunity to win my first race, get my first pole position thanks to this team. Proving to myself and others that you can fight for these results with a competitive car".
