Carlos Sainz says he’s “laughing” at reports he has signed an F1 contract for 2025 – and not in a good way.
Sainz knew he needed a new home on next year’s grid even before the 2024 F1 campaign began, following the pre-season announcement that seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton would take his seat in 2025.
Carlos Sainz has ‘very good options’
Several doors have closed for Sainz recently, with PlanetF1.com previously reporting that he is not likely to take the vacant Mercedes seat anytime soon, while Red Bull have opted to keep Sergio Pérez on a multi-year deal.
However, reports on the eve of the Canadian Grand Prix claimed Sainz had signed an F1 contract for 2025, adding that “everything points to him heading to Williams”, but Sainz admitted he had not signed anything in Montreal.
Indeed, the report made Sainz “laugh” and he expressed “concern” that such claims could “go unpunished”.
“The only thing I can say is nothing has been decided,” he told reporters ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.
“I saw reports in the media that I had signed. It makes me laugh when I see stuff like that. I remember seeing reports three months ago that I had signed with Mercedes and reports that I had signed with Red Bull. Now obviously I’m not going to those places.”
“So it’s just funny when people say I’ve signed with Williams. It makes me laugh to know that this has gone a little unpunished in some of the media reports. But let’s just say it obviously disturbs me that people can get away with doing something like that without any support.”
“Other than that, if I have anything to say or announce, I will be the first to let you know and I will speak about it here openly.
“And as for my future, I’m going to put everything on the table and seriously consider every contract I sign.
“I still firmly believe that to be successful in F1 you need a medium to long-term project. I don’t think you can be successful in F1 by just winning somewhere for a year and then going away. I think you need the right project for that to happen.”
“And I think ’25, ’26, ’27, ’28 will be good opportunities to find that out. I think ’26 will be a lottery. I think you all saw the rules today. From what I’ve seen, it seems impossible to predict who’s going to be competitive.
“People might be looking at it a little bit dramatically now that I won’t be in a competitive car in ’25 or ’26, but I think ’26 will be a big turning point and the future could hold some really positive things for me.”
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Speaking to Sky F1, Sainz Jr. acknowledged he had some “very good options” but said those chances made it difficult to think about next season after Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc won last time out in Monaco and Ferrari and McLaren appeared to have closed the gap on Red Bull.
But he knows the time is approaching when he will have to decide his next move.
“I don’t think I’m lying about the fact that there are a lot of options out there right now for the future, some of which are very good options, and that’s something I want to think about calmly,” he said.
“To be honest, when you have a chance to win here this weekend, then your home Grand Prix in Barcelona and then Monaco, and you’re just focused on making the most of this year and having a competitive car, it’s very difficult to stay focused and make decisions about the future.
“So at some point I’m going to have to sit down and consider all the options on the table. Up until now I’ve left it up to my management team and my team to negotiate and put together all the options that are in front of us. And then when it’s time to make a decision, I’m going to have to sit down and make a decision.”
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