Carlos Sainz rarely put a foot wrong during his time at Ferrari, yet he did not receive a contract extension beyond 2024. The reason? Lewis Hamilton unexpectedly decided to leave his beloved Mercedes team. Naturally, Ferrari couldn’t say no to such an opportunity, leaving Sainz to secure a new seat at Williams—a team that is far from being a frontrunner.
However, the Spaniard has left Ferrari on excellent terms, despite admitting to feeling sad about the whole ordeal. The fact that Sainz didn’t burn any bridges means that he could be back someday. David Coulthard certainly thinks so.
The former Red Bull driver recently stated that Sainz could make a Ferrari return much like Kimi Raikkonen did in 2014, five years after leaving.
“It [The Williams stint] feels like maybe a stop-gap scenario for Carlos,” he said on the Formula for Success podcast. “I think that I could see Carlos going back to Ferrari. We saw Kimi Raikkonen.”
Carlos ️“Thank you, Scuderia Ferrari, this is truly a special team. These four years together are something I will always cherish and I have no words to describe it in a simple final quote.”
Leaving the #AbuDhabiGP with a podium and P2 in the constructors’ … pic.twitter.com/QOa2AeIGrQ
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) December 8, 2024
Coulthard argued that Hamilton could eventually hang up his racing boots in the next two to three seasons, which is approximately how long his Ferrari contract is rumored to be. After that, the road would be open for Sainz to make a homecoming.
Raikkonen had also faced a similar axing back in the day. The Finnish driver had to make way for Fernando Alonso in 2010, and Ferrari paid him to leave the team after a successful stint from 2007 to 2009.
The parallels in Sainz and Raikkonen’s Ferrari stints
Just like Sainz, Raikkonen was at Ferrari for a short period during his first stint, which turned out to be his best period in F1. Winning the world championship in his first season with the Scuderia was certainly an ecstatic moment, even for the monosyllabic Raikkonen.
The Finn was driving at his peak, securing race wins and podiums in an extremely competitive field at the time. Sainz, too, has experienced a similar four-year stint with victories and podiums galore.
Raikkonen got a chance to return to the Italian stable after Felipe Massa left the team in 2014, leaving a seat vacant alongside Alonso. Ferrari quickly placed the 2007 world champion in that seat, and he went on to race alongside Sebastian Vettel until the end of 2018.
Raikkonen wasn’t at his elite best form in this second stint but did a solid job as Vettel’s wingman, a role Sainz could very well essay. Eventually, it all depends on how quickly Hamilton’s fantasy of driving for Ferrari gets fulfilled. Ideally, the seven-time world champion could look to clinch his record eighth title as soon as possible to pave the way for Sainz to return where he feels he belongs.
