Imola [Italy], May 17 : Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz feels that a decision about his future for 2025 may take some time to be made and the Spaniard claims that the situation is not moving very rapidly due to the ongoing changes in the driver market.
Two more positions on the grid for the following season have been confirmed in recent weeks: Nico Hulkenberg's move from Haas to Kick Sauber was revealed before the Miami Grand Prix, and Alex Albon's multi-year contract extension with Williams was announced ahead of this weekend's race in Imola.
Sainz's final destination for the 2025 season, however, is still a mystery. With Lewis Hamilton scheduled to arrive in Ferrari next year, the 29-year-old will be left without a place.
Ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix when news of his future might be expected, Sainz said the announcement for the seat next season is still a long way off.
"When I have it, you'll know. I think so, yeah. It's not moving too quick," Sainz said as quoted by Formula 1.
Sainz is still focused on 2024 for the time being as he aims to have a successful weekend in front of Ferrari's home crowd. The three-time race winner is optimistic that the improvements on the car that will arrive for the Imola weekend will give the team a "bit of a step."
When asked if this would be sufficient to catch up to McLaren, who won their most recent race in Miami, or even Red Bull, the leaders of the championship, Sainz said that it seemed to depend on the track in which the Scuderia competes. The Ferrari driver also admitted that it will require time to decide his future in Formula One.
"I still think it's going to be track-dependent. Miami was a better suited track for [us], our car felt back to normal, while China felt particularly really not good, so I think we're going to be very track dependent," the Ferrari driver explained.
"Hopefully Imola is one of those good tracks for us and we can put on a good show in front of the crowd. This would be [the] ideal scenario. For the rest, we're going to need to keep developing for tracks like China, because there's certain types of corner where our car really struggles right now, and we need to keep moving forward," he added.
Sainz finished fifth in the last two races after finishing on the podium in the first three races of the season, which included his victory in the Australian Grand Prix.
With 83 points, he is presently tied for fifth place in the drivers' standings alongside Lando Norris.
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