The 2024 F1 silly season is edging towards its conclusion as teams are announcing their driver line-ups for 2025 and beyond. British rookie, Oliver Bearman became the latest to secure his seat with Haas on a multi-year deal starting from next season. However, one big piece of the puzzle is yet to resolve itself – Carlos Sainz’s future.
Ferrari dropped the #55 driver in favor of Lewis Hamilton before the 2024 season started. Nevertheless, Sainz is a big name in the paddock. However, no news about the Spaniard’s future has yet been made, and now Sainz himself has expressed his anguish about the situation.
“Carlos is the cork in the bottle!”@KevinMagnussen believes the 2025 driver line-up will fall into place quickly once Sainz’s future is settled #F1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/wINY0ZOiPj
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 20, 2024
Sainz admitted feeling stressed because the F1 calendar has not allowed him to make any decisions about his future yet. Formula1.com quoted him as saying, “For sure it’s causing me a bit of stress and time to think.”
Sainz went on to explain, “Especially because, obviously, Mondays to Thursdays a lot of things are happening behind closed doors. There’s a lot of talks and a lot of conversations going on, then once I arrive on Thursday to the track all this disappears and I’m focusing 100% on performing in Ferrari.”
Only one seat at the front of the grid remains with Mercedes yet to announce George Russell’s teammate for 2025. However, according to Toto Wolff himself, Sainz is not a candidate they are considering at the moment.
Is Sainz going to Alpine in 2025?
During the buildup to the 2024 British Grand Prix, this weekend, strong rumors have started to emerge with respect to Carlos Sainz’s future. There is chatter that the #55 driver has already made up his mind to join Alpine as a replacement for Esteban Ocon.
Italian publication, Gazzetta dello Sport has confirmed that Sainz has decided to join the Enstone-based French outfit next year. This comes off the back of Flavio Briatore re-joining the team as an Executive Advisor and a possible engine switch to Mercedes power units from 2026 onwards.
⚠️ | Gazetta dello Sport reports that Carlos Sainz is set to move to Alpine.
The arrival of Flavio Briatore as Excecutive Advisor and Alpine switching to Mercedes engines in 2026 has reportedly convinced him to join to the French outfit.
Would this be a good move for the… pic.twitter.com/0x6zf6AITy
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) July 5, 2024
Alpine have turned their fortunes around since the last few race weekends. Now, being a strong midfield team, the project at Alpine with 2026 looming could be a potential game-changer as far as Sainz is concerned.
