Frederic Vasseur has paid tribute to Carlos Sainz ahead of his move from Ferrari to Williams, saying he has “huge respect” for the Spaniard who has been “mega professional” during their time together.
Sainz is into the final few races of his stint at the Scuderia – whom he joined back in 2021 – after it was confirmed that Lewis Hamilton will replace him as Charles Leclerc’s team mate from next season.
It’s a chapter that has brought some of Sainz’s greatest moments in F1 so far, including five pole positions and three Grand Prix wins – the most recent of which was achieved at this year’s Australian Grand Prix.
“I have huge respect for Carlos, for what he did for the team in the last years, but mainly the last two years with me [as team boss],” Vasseur commented.
“I can perfectly see what he did last year, mainly when we had trouble, he was able to push the team to come back with the pole in Monza, to win in Singapore. This pushed a little bit probably also Charles to react and he did [many] first rows [on the grid] in a row.
“He was clearly part of the recovery of the team last year and this season he’s doing a very good job. I know perfectly that the situation was not easy at the beginning of the season, but he’s mega professional.
“We had a discussion last winter and we agreed together to push until the last corner of the last lap [of the season] and he’s doing very well.”
Vasseur added that he would “for sure” like to work with Sainz again in the future, should the opportunity arise, as he repeated that the call to replace him with Hamilton “was not an easy one”.
“I’m more than pleased to have Carlos [in the team] and I will keep a very good relationship with him,” added the Frenchman.
