Carlos Sainz says his ongoing contract negotiations for 2025 have shed light on Formula 1’s “tough” realities and taught him that trustworthy individuals are a rare breed in the paddock.
Ahead of his home race in Barcelona last weekend, Sainz voiced his hope for a speedy resolution to his future in F1. But the outgoing Ferrari charger is apparently still weighing his options for 2025.
Sainz has been linked to Williams and Sauber, with the British outfit reportedly leading the race to secure his services. However, a late offer tabled by Alpine has muddied the waters.
Regardless of where the 29-year-old ends up, engaging in contract talks has been a harsh exercise for Sainz, who has often found it difficult to fully trust the information being presented.
"First of all, the situation that I've been in this year has made me learn a lot about Formula 1 in general," Sainz explained.
"By talking to teams it has kind of showed me how tough this sport is and how little sometimes you have to believe what people say at the beginning of negotiations, conversations, and mainly people.
"Also to trust very little people in the paddock because it's really a very political sport.
"There's a lot of things like this involved, and it's made me understand it's a very tough sport in that sense and understand a better picture of Formula 1 without going into too much into detail.
"Apart from the other teams, obviously I've learned a lot in which position they are in and the teams that I am potentially moving to next year, I've obviously dug in a lot into the state that they are and the situation that there is.
"And yeah, it's also made me have probably a better understanding of how Formula 1 each team is and where they are."
However, extracting from his trove of talks the objective facts and figures he needs to decide his future hasn’t been easy. Looking past a team’s short-term results to consider its long-term vision and project has been equally challenging.
“I'm doing the exercise within myself and my team to really try to avoid looking at each race performance of each team and just focus on the project and the feeling that I get by talking to each team and obviously looking at the contracts,” he said.
"I agree, it's not easy because sometimes you, the competitive spirit, you just try and see who is faster.
“But I don't think the last race of each team is also a representative point of where they're going to be in the next couple of years."
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