Carlos Sainz has said he feels vindicated by Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 struggles at Ferrari, saying it is a similar situation to some of his own during the “adaptation process.”
Hamilton has struggled to find significant performance in 2025 so far, having initially been billed as part of McLaren’s nearest competitors at Ferrari.
Despite being second in the Constructors’ Championship, Ferrari is already 197 points adrift of the Woking-based squad, with Charles Leclerc’s three podiums its only real highlight.
Hamilton has found it difficult to an even greater extent than his Monegasque counterpart, having struggled with the SF-25 in Grand Prix trim since his Sprint Race victory in China.
The seven-time champion is sixth in the Drivers’ standings, 23 points behind Leclerc, after a Spanish Grand Prix which he described as “the worst” race he’d experienced.
Sainz was ousted by Ferrari in favour of Hamilton after four seasons with the team, in which he took four wins, and is now, along with Alex Albon, spearheading Williams’ resurgence.
The Spaniard had previously stated that drivers need time to adapt to a new team, having switched to many in his 10-year period in F1.
When asked by Mundo Deportivo if he feels pride in the problems Hamilton is having, Sainz denied this but conveyed some relief in, in his view, being proved correct regarding his theory.
“I understand them, because I know how complicated it is,” he said. “Pride? No.
“You understand why it’s so hard, because I’ve had to suffer through changing teams five times, and it’s something that was hardly talked about before, the adaptation process.
“Before, everybody expected you to be there by the third race. I remember with [Daniel] Ricciardo, when he changed to Renault, and also to McLaren, there was an adaptation process.
“And me too, in every team I’ve changed. And before it was like people didn’t buy it, or saw it as a bit of an excuse.
“Now that a seven-times champion is changing [teams] and it also costs him, it confirms a bit what I was telling you five or 10 years ago that maybe you didn’t buy it, but now you do buy it.”
To ‘end up adapting’ the ‘important thing’
Hamilton recently said he will encourage Ferrari to focus on its 2026 car if the SF-25 continues to falter, and at 40, chances for him to secure a record eighth title are lessening.
Sainz said that a period of adaptation is acceptable, as long as it will eventually lead to a positive turning of the corner.
“But then the important thing is to end up adapting,” he added. “I think that’s the important thing.
“You can have five or six complicated months of adaptation, but what matters is to get there, I think, because if you get there, in the end, with the level and talent you have, then you end up showing what you are worth.
“I arrived in the middle of 2022 with pole positions at Silverstone, Spa and Austin. And I won a race, and in 2023, so in the end I got to the level I wanted. The important thing is to get there.
“The risk is that you never end up adapting to that team or car, and so far I’m lucky to say that I’ve always ended up adapting to every team.”