‘It’s at the top of my list’ – Sainz sets out final goal as a Ferrari driver before moving to Williams

Carlos Sainz has admitted that achieving one last win as a Ferrari driver is his priority before he departs the team at the end of the season to race for Williams in 2025.

There have been several milestone moments for Sainz since he joined the Scuderia in 2021, with the Spaniard scoring both his debut pole position and race victory at the 2022 British Grand Prix, while in 2023 he was the only non-Red Bull driver to take a win when he triumphed in Singapore.

Sainz added a third win to his tally this season, memorably bouncing back from undergoing surgery for appendicitis to win the Australian Grand Prix just two weeks on from the operation.

And now that his time at the team is heading into its final stages ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at the squad, Sainz is keen to stand on the top step of the podium for one last time in Ferrari overalls.

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“Obviously it’s at the top of my list to try and win at least once again with Ferrari before I leave,” the 30-year-old explained.

“It’s in my head, not because I’m leaving at the end of the year with Ferrari, but because I always try to win every race that I go to.

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“Let’s see. At the same time, it’s still one-third of the season left. It’s quite a lot actually when you think about it, and there’s three Sprints, plenty of the season left to go, so let’s go race by race.”

While Ferrari have faced some ups and downs during 2024, the team appear to have gained momentum of late, meaning that they currently hold third in the constructors’ standings on 441 points, 34 points behind second-placed Red Bull.

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 21: Carlos Sainz of Spain driving (55) the Ferrari SF-24 on track — Sainz is aiming to claim another victory before he leaves Ferrari at the end of the season

In terms of whether the Scuderia can hold onto that position to the end of the season, Sainz responded: “We will try. I think we also need to show progress at the other kinds of circuits like Brazil, Austin, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, which are more normal circuits.

“If we show progress there I think we might have a chance. If on those circuits we’re still behind like we were in places like Spa or Hungary, then it means we have a lot of work to do.”

Ahead of the final six races of the campaign, Sainz currently sits in fifth place in the drivers’ championship with 190 points, putting him 16 points clear of Hamilton in sixth.

The three-time race winner will then head to Williams in 2025, having signed a multi-year deal with the Grove outfit.