Carlos Sainz criticises media pressure on Ferrari and shows strong support for team principal Fred Vasseur amid F1 struggles.
Carlos Sainz is frustrated by the rumors of Fred Vasseur’s potential dismissal as Ferrari’s team principal. The Williams F1 driver, who spent four years at Maranello, denounces the unhealthy pressure surrounding the Scuderia.
“It’s always the same story — as soon as results don’t meet expectations at Ferrari, the media starts pointing fingers and it becomes chaos,” Sainz said. “For me, it’s about focusing on the process and delivering when it matters.”
“But if you ask me my opinion on Fred, I have an excellent relationship with him. In the past, we obviously went through a tough month where he didn’t want me and signed Lewis, but apart from that, we made peace, and I get along well with him, and I’ve always appreciated him as a team principal and as a person.”
Asked about Ferrari’s struggles this season, the Spaniard admits he is surprised to see them: “I can only speak about the time I spent there before I left, and my feeling was that the team, the car, we felt ready to fight for the championship. I honestly thought Ferrari could be a championship contender this year.”
“That’s what I communicated to Charles [Leclerc], [and] to the team. For me, everything was coming together. I wasn’t involved in the development of the 2025 car. So I don’t know where they went with the balance, with the setup, and why they are struggling to achieve results this year.”
“At the same time, McLaren is probably doing an excellent job. If McLaren is doing such a good job, then no matter what you do, there’s someone performing at a very high level with two very strong drivers and doing a great job in F1 right now, and that’s McLaren.”
