Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has given his thoughts on Lewis Hamilton being linked with a move to the team for next year.
Hamilton sees his current contract with Mercedes expire at the end of the 2023 campaign and, as yet, he has not signed a new deal with them to extend his stay.
It is widely expected that he will pen a fresh contract with the Silver Arrows but, until he does so, there will remain plenty of speculation written about him.
Indeed, further reports were released earlier this week that Ferrari were lining up a move for Hamilton, as a potential replacement for either Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz, though all the key parties involved were keen to stress that such talk is wide of the mark.
Certainly, Sainz was unmoved by the chatter, with him telling the media here in Monte-Carlo on Thursday that he is experienced enough now to not pay attention to such rumours:
“I know at this time of the year, there are always these kinds of rumours starting to happen and it’s silly.
“A week and a half ago, I was going to Audi. One week ago, Charles was going to Mercedes. And now Lewis is coming to Ferrari – it’s the story of our lives.
“I’ve been here long enough to know that this is that time of the year [where rumours begin.]”
Sainz has seen plenty in his F1 career now and also knows all about the driver market, having raced for the likes of Renault, Ferrari, and McLaren.
He knows how it all works and he knows when not to pay attention to speculation – which is clearly what he is doing now.
He’s a driver with plenty to offer Ferrari and both he and Leclerc make a very strong pairing so, even with Hamilton potentially available for next year as it stands, the Scuderia are surely happy with what they have moving forwards.
Ultimately, a lot of this is going to prove academic more than likely as it does seem it is a matter of time before Lewis makes the extension with Merc official, and then hopefully we can move on and look ahead to 2024 in terms of the drivers up at the top of the field.
