That being said, Carlos Sainz has had some brilliant races this season, unlike Hamilton. He won the Australian Grand Prix and finished third in Bahrain and Japan. The Spaniard is a sought-after driver for many teams and first of all, Mercedes and Audi paid attention to him.
Most often, information from Italian publications is confirmed when it comes to various internal stories. Even Lewis Hamilton’s departure from Mercedes was first reported by the Italian media, and so there is a certain level of trust in these sources.
At the same time, Carlos Sainz’s move from Ferrari to Mercedes makes no sense.
Carlos Sainz’s move to Ferrari looks like a “short-term” solution. The Spaniard will not receive a long-term contract with the German team and under no circumstances will he put himself in a situation where he will become a reliable leader of the team.
For Mercedes, George Russell is already a top driver, and the team should count on him when it comes to fine-tuning the car. Additionally, the German team has the talented Kimi Antonelli. The young Italian has not raced often in Formula 2, but even with such limited participation, it is clear that Kimi is a great talent. The ideal scenario would be to give him a year at Williams and then transfer him to Mercedes, where he could become a top driver.
At the same time, Carlos Sainz gets a one-year contract with Mercedes with a possible extension for another year, which will give Kimi more time to develop. This scenario is disastrous for the Spaniard since he will only have one year to show how good he is compared to George Russell. And as the Briton has already got used to Mercedes and is already beating Hamilton, he looks preferable in this confrontation.
If the Spaniard moves to Mercedes and loses Russell completely, his stock will drop significantly. At the same time, by then, vacancies in teams like Red Bull or Audi will already be filled. Carlos Sainz could be stuck in no-man’s land and find himself in a worse situation than he currently is. Overall, this decision makes no sense for Sainz.
However, this could work out perfectly for Mercedes, and it might make sense to continue working with Carlos Sainz for another year. However, the signing of Carlos Sainz means that Mercedes will either keep Kimi Antonelli in Formula 2 for another year or try to move him to Formula 1 at Williams.
Previously, this would have been a simple solution. But now everything is different. James Vowles has not shown the same level of flexibility towards Mercedes as previous management. James plans to take Williams to the next level and for that he needs drivers willing to participate in the new project. Kimi Antonelli will not be that kind of driver, it is not a long term option because the shadow of Mercedes will always hang over him. If Toto Wolff fails to send Antonelli to Williams, the Italian’s development could stall, meaning signing Sainz could hurt Mercedes in the long term.
Vyacheslav Gorbachev, Athletistic
Source: Sport
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
