Carlos Sainz reveals what the ‘demon’ inside was telling him to do before Lewis Hamilton replaced him at Ferrari

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Carlos Sainz has resisted any temptation to speak ill of Ferrari even though they let him go at the end of 2024. Replacement Lewis Hamilton has struggled to match his level of competitiveness.

At the halfway stage of the season, Hamilton trails Charles Leclerc 17-6 in competitive sessions (excluding Sprints). That means he’s only beating him 26% of the time.

While Leclerc won the same Ferrari head-to-head last year, the margin was closer (27-17). Sainz was ahead in just under 39% of sessions.

But Sainz has shown little interest in this comparison. He’s focused on his new team Williams, where he’s faced a difficult adaptation phase but hopes to win races within the next few years.

Carlos Sainz says part of him wanted to set Ferrari ‘on fire’ after Lewis Hamilton decision

Sainz reflected on the 2024 season on the latest episode of the High Performance Podcast. He admitted that the ‘demon’ on his shoulder was telling him to ‘tear Ferrari apart’.

But instead, he recognised that the decision was only made by the Ferrari hierarchy. He’d be letting down hundreds of uninvolved employees if he didn’t give them a ‘maximum professional level’.

Sainz won two races and matched his career-high with nine podiums. He ended up fifth in the championship with just under 300 points.

“I understand how a driver with a big ego would maybe just like to tear Ferrari apart that year and maybe become a bit political or become a bit of an infection inside the team,” he said.

When host Jake Humphrey asked if he ever thought about doing that, he replied: “Of course! My demon – we all have an angel and a demon – and the demon was like, ‘There are so many things I would like to say or do or change’.

“But my angel was more powerful at that time and said, ‘No, don’t be that guy, be the professional guy, be the guy that’s just going to give absolutely everything until the last race for this team, and give everyone that has nothing to do with that decision…

“I owe them my maximum professional level and a good year for the team, for myself, for everyone. I’m going to be the professional guy, the good guy, not the one that wants to set this place on fire.”

Red Bull’s justification for snubbing Carlos Sainz makes no sense

After a Q2 exit at the British GP, Sainz admitted that he was missing fighting at the front. He hasn’t finished a race higher than eighth this season.

Perhaps that could have been different if he were racing for Red Bull. The team had a vacancy for 2025, but they passed up the opportunity to bring back the ex-Toro Rosso driver.

While Sainz was putting together an impressive season, Red Bull were worried that there would be hostility in the garage between the Spaniard and Max Verstappen.

But a confused Sainz says he has a good relationship with Verstappen. They would have formed a ‘very strong’ duo, provided he could cope with the car’s notoriously difficult handling.