Charles Leclerc is certain his team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr will have several drives to choose from next year after losing his place at Ferrari.
Ferrari announced before the season began Lewis Hamilton will take Sainz’s place alongside Leclerc next year. But with Mercedes, Red Bull and many others yet to confirm their 2025 line-ups, and Sainz giving a timely reminder of his potential with victory in Australia last week, Leclerc is confident he can find a competitive seat.
“I think everybody knows Carlos’ worth in the paddock,” said Leclerc, who finished second to his team mate in Melbourne. “He’s one of the highest-rated drivers in the paddock and he’s been extremely strong every time he was in a Formula 1 car. He has showed it multiple times.
“So I don’t think he’s underrated. I think everybody knows Carlos’ worth. I’m not too worried about his future, because I’m sure that many, many team principals are… he doesn’t say it, but for sure they are speaking with him. And I’m sure he will have many opportunities and he’ll just have to make the best choice for his career.”
Sainz’s win was the third of his career. He is the only driver other than Max Verstappen to have won in the last 21 races.
The pair arrived in F1 together at the same team nine years ago, and although Sainz has not had the same success in his career as Verstappen, he isn’t concerned that may lead some outside of the teams he has worked at to question his potential.
“I think people that know me, or have shared a team with me, or people that have worked with me, know me and I don’t feel underrated by people that know about this sport,” he said.
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“Other people that maybe don’t have an insight and don’t know as much about this sport, if they want to underrate me, I’m fine with that. I don’t care, honestly.
“But I care about the people that know the sport well and about my team mates, the people that have seen my data, seen how I work, seen my speed, that’s the thing I care about. And I don’t feel underrated by them.”
He said his latest win “for sure does no harm” to his chances of getting a front-running seat next year. “I’m still without a job for next year so I guess this is going to help it.
“I think everyone knows more or less what I’m capable of doing. I do race for myself. I race to keep proving to myself that I can win whenever I get a competitive car and whenever there’s an opportunity to win in a weekend.
“I don’t race to prove to team principals or to prove to people my value. I race to prove to myself that if I’m given a car, I can get it done and I can be up there, you know, and that’s the mentality and the approach that I have and I will keep having the rest of the year.”
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2024 Australian Grand Prix
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