The past year truly tested Carlos Sainz: in January, he learned that Ferrari would not renew his contract; then, in March, he missed a race due to an appendectomy but won the following round. After months of ups and downs, he secured his last victory in Mexico, helping to seal second place in the Constructors’ Championship for the Maranello team. It has been an intense four years for the Spaniard, who might have hoped for a different ending to his adventure in red, but he has no regrets. On the contrary, he learned an important lesson: “I said it in Australia, life is a roller coaster. I’m almost grateful for the difficulties I went through because they made me a stronger person.”
“2024 tested me like never before. I was in a situation where I wasn’t comfortable at all. Leaving Ferrari was a huge shock; it shattered my hopes. I prepared for the season always with the mindset of winning races, or even the Championship, and I had a lot of energy despite carrying that weight on my shoulders. After the podium in Bahrain, I realized I still had to give 100%, that it wasn’t all over. Then, in Saudi Arabia, I had my appendix removed, and I started asking myself a lot of questions again: I didn’t know if I would race in Australia, if I would return to my previous physical form, and I had a thousand other problems on my mind. Then I won in Australia. I felt very emotional in that moment. My father, my manager, and my girlfriend were under the podium, all people who had seen me suffer through everything that had happened. I don’t mean to say I was crying in secret, but it still hurt because I didn’t expect to leave the team. In China, I had an accident in Q2, then qualified well in Q3. All this made me realize that if you have a goal in mind and want to prove 100% to yourself what you’re capable of, your mind becomes a formidable ally,” the driver explained on the Beyond The Grid podcast.
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