Williams star Carlos Sainz has spoken about the huge favour he did for Lewis Hamilton after losing his seat at Ferrari.
Back in early 2024, Hamilton stunned the entire Formula 1 world by announcing his decision to leave Mercedes for Ferrari.
At the time, it was stated that the seven-time world champion would partner Monegasque star Charles Leclerc in the famous Ferrari red.
As a result, Sainz, who was at Ferrari when the Hamilton deal was confirmed, had to find a new team and eventually dropped down the grid by joining Williams.
Advert
However, Hamilton has endured a tough start to life at Ferrari, especially after it quickly became clear at the start of the 2025 season that the team's car, the SF-25, was not good enough to challenge at the front.
Currently, the 40-year-old is sixth in the standings, having collected 103 points, 16 behind Leclerc.
Meanwhile, Sainz has also had a difficult start at Williams as he sits 15th in the world championship, a long way off teammate Alex Albon, who is in eighth.
Advert
Recently, Sainz appeared on the High Performance podcast, and spoke about how he chose to be extra professional after being told Hamilton was going to replace him.
The Spaniard admitted that a driver with 'big ego' could have torn Ferrari apart last year.
He said: "For me, it was mainly the professional side of things. I understand how a driver with a big ego would just maybe like to tear Ferrari apart that year, maybe become a bit political, become a bit of an infection inside the team."
After Jake Humphrey asked if he thought about doing exactly that, Sainz replied: "Oh of course! You know we all have an angel and a demon and the demon is like ‘ahhh there’s so many things I would like to say now or do or change', but my angel was, let’s say, more powerful at the time.
Advert
"I said no, don’t be that guy, be the professional guy."
He continued: "The guy that is just going to give absolutely everything until the last race for this team and leave this team behind and give everyone, the mechanics, everyone also that hasn’t done anything about that decision, they had nothing to do [with it], there’s hundreds, thousands of people working in that team that had nothing to do with that decision and I owed them my maximum professional level.
"I said I’m going to be a professional guy and the good guy, not the one that wants to set this place on fire. It’s tough but it’s character building."
Advert
F1 will return at the end of July with the Belgian Grand Prix, taking place around the Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps.
Topics: Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Marcus Chan