F1 News: Carlos Sainz fires UNEMPLOYMENT reminder to rival teams after Australia win

Carlos Sainz, Saudi Arabia GP, Ferrari, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Australian Grand Prix

Sainz fires UNEMPLOYMENT reminder to rival teams after Australia win

The Spaniard drove a brilliant race after returning from illness

Tyler Rowlinson

Sunday 24 March 2024 21:12

Carlos Sainz came home to grab his third career victory in Melbourne in sensational style – but reminded teams that he is ‘still jobless’ at the end of the year.

The Spaniard drove a brilliant race in what was a solid weekend for Ferrari, capped off with Charles Leclerc coming in second to make it a 1-2 finish for the Maranello squad.

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Ferrari’s win ended Red Bull’s streak of nine consecutive wins, which was aided by Max Verstappen’s early retirement due to a brake failure, with Sainz already getting by the Dutchman before he reported the issue.

Returning to the grid after suffering with appendicitis in Saudi Arabia, the 29-year-old’s performance showed his talents to the rest of the paddock, as he searches for a seat for 2025 after learning in the winter that he would be replaced by Lewis Hamilton as of next year.

Sainz took advantage of Max Verstappen's retirement

Sainz: I'm still jobless next year

Speaking with Martin Brundle on Sky Sports F1 at the end of the race, Sainz reflected on a turbulent off-season and the joy of winning in Australia.

When asked if he was proud of the victory, he said: “Yes. You cannot imagine. how proud I am, especially because you know how the start, how tough of a start of a year it’s been with me.

“With a non-renewal at the beginning, putting the team together a very good pre-season testing and pre-season programme for my training. Arriving to the first race, podium, now you say ‘ok, I’m ready to fight this year.'

“The appendix, another low and then suddenly you come back with the uncertainty. Am I going to be back or not? And then you come back and win. So it’s, life is sometimes really nice, really beautiful.”

The Spainard then laughed with Brundle as he reminded the F1 world that he was out of a seat for next season.

Sainz recovered from appendicitis to race in Australia

“I’m still jobless for next year, so I guess this good for me,” he said, making reference to his win.

“But jokes aside, I know that when I’m given a good car I can get it done. Proved it in Singapore [2023], proved it here. When it’s a good car, I’m happy and I’m very happy with the car today.”

Asked if he felt the team was more structured after an impressive weekend, he responded: “It is a more structured team. We’ve done so much progress with the iron, with the performance of the car but also with race execution, weekend execution. It’s a much more solid team than where we were one, two years ago.

“So, I’m proud of that progress. I’m going to maximise this more solid team that we’ve created together during this year, to try to put together some more podiums and wins and see where I’m going next.”

Red Bull Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Charles Leclerc Carlos Sainz