Despite only being three races in, it’s safe to say that the 2024 season so far has been nothing short of exciting. Saturday races, DNFs and of course a Ferrari win at the Australian GP has meant that the season has seen its fair share of drama and highlights. However, one key thing that can be taken from this season has been the confirmation that current Mercedes driver, Lewis Hamilton, will be racing for Ferrari in the 2025 season and onwards. This has meant that Carlos Sainz has lost his seat, as his counterpart Charles Leclerc has recently signed a multi-year contract that will see him racing under the Scuderia name until 2028. However, after the start of the 2024 season, is it worth entertaining the idea that Ferrari should not have been so quick to remove the Spanish driver from their lineup, considering his recent impressive results.
Carlos Sainz: The smoothest operator
Carlos Sainz has certainly had an impressive start to the season racing for Ferrari. In the debut 2024 Grand Prix in Bahrain, Sainz finished in a strong 3rd position, placing him on the podium for the weekend and establishing a very good start to his season. Obviously, it’s no surprise to suggest the idea that the Spaniard is desperate to impress the other teams, as he currently remains seatless when it comes to looking at the 2025 season. Sainz is therefore expected to race as hard as he can, proving to the rest of the grid that he is in fact worthy of a seat in the next season.
Unfortunately, Sainz faced a major setback the weekend of Saudi Arabia, due to an emergency surgery as a result of appendicitis. Consequently, the Spanish driver was forced to sit the race out, with 18-year-old Ollie Bearman taking over his seat for the remainder of the weekend. This could have only caused further worry for Sainz, as he was unable to act on his impressive weekend the race prior. Despite this unfortunate complication, Sainz was back fighting for the Australian Grand Prix, meaning that he wasted no time in continuing fighting for a space on the grid. Sainz powered through the weekend, and thanks to an early exit from Verstappen, was victorious and took the winning position. As impressive as it is to take the crown of the Grand Prix, what makes this even more special is the fact that Sainz showed true fighting spirit by recovering and being back in the car in the space of two weeks; a truly remarkable feat. It’s safe to say that Sainz is truly doing everything he can to prove his worth.
Leclerc and Hamilton: the dream team?
There’s no denying that Leclerc and Hamilton will make a fierce racing duo. Both drivers have proved themselves more than capable of deserving a seat in a top team over the last couple of years, with impressive results and a fighting attitude.
Hamilton is perhaps one of the most known drivers in Formula One, with a noteworthy 7 WDCs, levelling that of Michael Schumacher. The British driver has been apart of the Mercedes family for the past 11 years, working alongside Team Principal Toto Wolff to bring in many memorable wins and results over the past decade. However, in recent years it can be said that Hamilton does appear to be struggling when it comes to getting back on the winning bandwagon, with Mercedes seemingly falling short over the past two seasons. At the end of the 2023 season, Hamilton finished a respectable 3rd in the drivers championship with 234 points, followed closely by Fernando Alonso on 206 points. However, the Mercedes driver has certainly had a turbulent start to this season, much to the dismay of his team and his driving partner, George Russell. The first two races in Sakhir and Jeddah saw Hamilton place 7th and 9th, a result that is certainly not a championship fighting position. The real blow, however, was during the Australian Grand Prix when both Hamilton and Russell failed to complete the race, with Hamilton unable to continue due to issues with his car. Although only early to the season, I would not be surprised to see Mercedes struggle to keep up with the other front runners, particularly over the next couple of months.
Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, has had a rather consistent start to the season. The Monégasque racing driver has raced with the Scuderia since 2019, after previously racing under Sauber F1 team. Since then, he has gone on to impress over the span of his several years at Ferrari, backed up by the fact that Leclerc now has the longest-serving Ferrari contract.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will make up the 2025 Ferrari lineup (Photo: https://racingnews365.com/leclerc-issues-hamilton-warning-ahead-of-ferrari-arrival)
In his first Grand Prix for Ferrari, Leclerc finished 5th at the Australian Grand Prix, a strong start for the driver in his Scuderia debut. Following on from this, he went from strength to strength, finishing an impressive 4th in the championship ahead of experienced teammate Sebastian Vettel. Clearly, the driver was destined for great things racing for Ferrari, and has proved himself time and time again. Overall, Leclerc has taken 5 F1 racing wins, with many more expected to come.
So far in the 2024 season, Charles Leclerc has placed 4th, 3rd, and then 2nd in the recent Australian Grand Prix, finishing just behind his teammate. If he is to continue with a pace like this, I would expect to see the Monégasque racer to pick up a race win or two over the course of this season.
Final thoughts:
Overall, I think it’s safe to say that Ferrari have had a difficult decision when it comes to choosing their lineup.Faced with a wealth of experience, drive and hunger has meant that either way, they are losing a strong driver any other team would be desperate to have. Whilst Sainz of course does have both youth and passion on his side, Lewis Hamilton has his previous wins and experience to highlight why he is still worthy of his place in Formula One. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how the rest of 2024 plays out, and to see whether there is one driver who has a more successful season than the other.
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