Sainz keen to ‘maximise’ final year with Ferrari as he jokes he’s ‘still jobless’ for 2025

Carlos Sainz is hopeful that he can try to score more podiums and wins during the remainder of his final season with Ferrari, with the Spaniard joking that he is “still jobless” for 2025 despite claiming victory in the Australian Grand Prix.

It has been an eventful start to 2024 for Sainz who, prior to the season even starting, learned that he will lose his place at the Scuderia next year when Lewis Hamilton joins on a multi-year contract.

READ MORE: ‘Life is crazy sometimes’ – Sainz overjoyed after ‘rollercoaster’ ride from hospital bed to Australian GP victory

The 29-year-old went on to score a podium at the first race of the campaign in Bahrain, before having to sit out the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after being diagnosed with appendicitis which required surgery.

Two weeks on, Sainz clinched an impressive win in Australia. Speaking to Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle after the race, he admitted that the victory felt particularly special given the ups and downs he has so far endured in 2024.

“You cannot imagine how proud I am [of that race],” said Sainz. “Especially because you know how tough of a start of a year it’s been [for] me, with the non-renewal at the beginning, [then] putting together a very good pre-season testing and pre-season programme from my training, arriving to the first race [and getting a] podium.

“Now you say, ‘okay, I’m ready to fight this year’, [but then there was the] appendix, another low, and then suddenly you come back with uncertainty – am I going to be back or not? Then you come back and win. Life is sometimes really nice, really beautiful.”

READ MORE: Sainz storms to victory amid drama in Australia as Verstappen retires and Russell crashes out

Asked if the victory could act as a good advert for his talents as he looks to secure a seat for 2025, Sainz quipped: “Well you know, I’m still jobless for next year, so I guess this does good for me!

“But, jokes aside, I know that when I’m given a good car I can get it done. [I] proved it in Singapore, proved it here – when I’m confident and it’s a good car I’m happy, and [I was] just very happy with the car today.”

After Ferrari faced a tougher start to the season in 2023, Sainz is proud of the steps that the squad have taken and hopes to enjoy as much success with them as possible before he embarks on a new challenge next year.

“It is a more structured team,” the three-time race winner commented. “We’ve done so much progress with the performance of the car, but also with race execution, weekend execution – it’s a much more solid team than where we were one, two years ago, so I’m proud of that progress.

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“I’m going to maximise this more solid team that we’ve created together during this year to try to put together some more podiums and wins, and see where I’m going next.”