_nyt . _{Dec 2024}

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc walked off the podium in Abu Dhabi together for the final time, smiles etched across their faces despite coming short of the Formula One constructors’ championship.

Sainz’s jumpsuit was different from normal. The white and yellow stripes the tifosi grew accustomed to seeing on Ferrari’s attire were gone. A large 55 was etched on the legs of the suit, and his famous ‘Smooth Operator’ nickname was scrawled on the back of a leg. Across his left shoulder, leading to the Ferrari logo, was the Italian flag, and underneath the suit, on the back of his fireproof top, were his podium finishes across the four years.

The helmets were different, too. Leclerc had a custom design for this race that thanked Sainz, while the Spaniard used his helmet to commemorate his four years with Ferrari, photos displayed on each side and ‘grazie’ in all caps on the back.

The tears eventually came, and a bittersweet feeling set in within Ferrari. Plenty of hugs were exchanged, pictures taken and high-fives given. In some ways, that podium finish is one of the best parting gifts he could give to the team and a way to celebrate the partnership.

It was Sainz’s last Italian dance.

“I’ve proven to myself and to everyone that I can be fighting for race wins and for podiums,” Sainz said Sunday. “If I have the right car and my target is from next year onwards, focus together with Williams to get back to where we belong together.”

Coming into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, Ferrari stared down a 21-point gap to McLaren for the constructors’ championship. Bringing home F1’s biggest trophy to Maranello would have been the perfect way to close this chapter of his career. On Thursday, Sainz described the task as “not a long shot, but it is a difficult one.”

“Being 21 points behind two of the fastest drivers and one of the fastest teams and recovering those 21 points in one weekend requires perfection from our side,” he continued, “and probably (a) not optimal weekend or a bad weekend from their side.”

It had been a roller-coaster year for Sainz. On Feb. 1, news broke that Hamilton would join Ferrari in 2025, kickstarting the lengthy journey of the Spaniard finding a new home. Sainz became the biggest name in the drivers’ market and eventually signed with Williams in July before summer break. But he also had health struggles, getting his appendix removed during the Saudi Arabian GP weekend and going on to win the Australian GP 16 days later. He went on to win again in Mexico City.

“I’m proud of the four years, but maybe more proud of this last year. I think this last year was a very tough year mentally and very challenging with the news at the beginning of the year to keep the motivation up, to keep the determination, to keep pushing through the whole year with a 24-race calendar and not letting myself get too deflated at times,” Sainz said Sunday in Abu Dhabi. “I think it’s been a big challenge that I think I managed to respond with good strength and determination to finish the year strongly and to finish the year with a few podiums, with a win in Mexico and helping the team to dream about the Constructors’ title.

“We’ve seen that it was not easy for any other driver that was leaving a team to keep that focus and that motivation up through the whole year. And I managed to do that.”

But as the weekend unfolded, it became clear that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had an edge. McLaren was quicker, topping the timesheets for two of the three practice sessions and securing a front-row lockout for Sunday’s race. Sainz, though, qualified third while Leclerc dropped to the back row because of his penalty.

Sainz said, “I was pushing in qualifying like never before because I wanted the pole position, and I wanted to give myself a good chance for tomorrow, as it might be my last battle for a win or for a podium in a while.”

Until that point on Saturday, the Ferrari driver said he hadn’t “been very emotional” given how focused the team was on the constructors’ championship.

“I don’t know how it’s going to feel,” Sainz said Saturday when asked by The Athletic what it would feel like suiting up in the Ferrari red one final time. “I can only tell you how it feels up until now — and I can tell you the level of focus of the whole team and my level of focus has been so high to try and execute a perfect weekend and try to win the race tomorrow and try to be on pole today, that honestly, I haven’t had much time to be emotional, apart from obviously little details that the team is doing so far to make me feel at home and feel proud of this last race with the team.

“But at the same time, I’m pretty sure tomorrow, before the race or after the race, it will start to sink in. It will start to hit me a bit, and it will get emotional. But the truth is that up until now, I’ve had no time for that. We’re all so focused, and we all want that constructors’ or that last win together. You know that you have no time to get too emotional, but tomorrow, I will for sure.”

Stepping out of the SF-24 for the last time felt “strange,” Sainz said.

Sainz pulled up to the P2 marker on the grid, ending his time with Ferrari with a second-place finish — what he called the best possible result because of McLaren’s pace. Norris controlled the race from lights out to the checkered flag, even when Ferrari tried the undercut. The McLaren driver still emerged from the pits ahead of Sainz and thrived on the hard tires.

“I would say it was more emotional the last time that I jumped in the car, in the grid,” he said. “I knew that was obviously going to be my last race with a group of people that I’ve enjoyed these last four years. The last time that I would jump in a Ferrari car, probably, and I was just feeling emotional. I tried to remind myself to try and enjoy the race as much as possible and to give the absolute maximum for this team.”

And though he was “a bit emotional” on Sunday, in those final laps, the Spaniard was already thinking about the next chapter and how to help Williams become faster and more competitive.

“I’m not going to lie, my last laps, as much as I was pushing like hell for this team and trying to, I was already starting to feel things in the car and trying to say, remember how this feels,” Sainz said Sunday. “Because (Monday) and Tuesday I need to remember, ‘Why is this car quick in this corner, and why does it feel good?’ Because I know, probably what I’m going to find (Monday) and Tuesday (testing with Williams) needs some margin of improvement in the corners that I was feeling the car.”

Time will tell what is in store for Williams, particularly with the regulations changing in 2026. The team ended the season ninth with 17 points, endured a double-digit number of crashes, and saw a midseason driver swap. James Vowles joined as team principal in early 2023, and it’s always been known that these early years under his leadership would be a rebuilding period, eyes set on becoming faster and more competitive. Albon and Sainz will form its most experienced driver duo in several years.

But two things can be right. As Norris said Sunday, “It’s a shame because I think he’s proven himself enough in Formula One that he deserves a good seat. He deserves to fight for championships and wins and those types of things and it’s a shame when that opportunity is lost.

“But it’s not because he’s not got talent or he’s not got the ability, right? It’s because it’s the biggest name in Formula One who wants his seat,” the McLaren driver continued. “And yeah, we’ll see in the future what it takes. See how Lewis does in Ferrari with Charles and against Charles. But (Sainz has) proven himself enough. So I don’t think anyone needs to doubt him. And I’m sure his time will come back again and he’ll help Williams fight back to the top.”

Sainz and Leclerc embraced on the podium, the Spaniard placing his hand on the back of the Monegasque’s neck with a smile on his face. Abu Dhabi didn’t end the way they hoped to close their chapter together. Ferrari missed out on the constructors’ title by 14 points after a late-season surge, powered by the driver duo’s performance and the team’s efforts following a midseason slump. But in a way, Sainz’s Ferrari chapter ended perfectly.

He stood on the podium one last time, sporting Ferrari’s iconic red jumpsuit and side by side with his two former teammates — friends whom he grew alongside during pivotal years in his F1 career.

“Carlos is so incredibly talented. He’s helped me to improve in so many areas, his work ethic, his talent, just everything he brings. The discipline he has, he’s been just such an incredible teammate,” Leclerc said Sunday, adding that his now former teammate “deserves to be in a top team” and doesn’t doubt that Sainz will be back up there one day. But on a more personal note, he said, “I wouldn’t be the driver I am today without him as my teammate in the last four years.”

Come Monday, Sainz swapped the red for white, jumping into Williams’ FW46 for the first time as he did a filming day in Abu Dhabi ahead of the post-season test. Sunday may have marked what was likely his last F1 podium for the foreseeable future, depending on how long it takes Williams to climb up F1’s competitive order. Meanwhile, Ferrari seems set to contend for the constructors’ championship next season if it stays on the current development trajectory.

“The only thing I can obviously recommend (to Hamilton) or tell him is to enjoy it. It’s an incredible place to be part of and an incredible place to drive and feel like a Formula One driver,” Sainz said. “I believe he will get an incredible treatment by the tifosi and by all the supporters, engineers, mechanics, everyone involved in Ferrari and enjoy it because there’s nothing better than being a Ferrari Formula One driver.

And if Ferrari is part of the 2025 constructors’ championship fight, it’ll be, in part, thanks to Sainz.

“Thank you for everything,” Leclerc said to his now former teammate as they walked through the paddock on Sunday evening. “And again, if we fight for the championship next year, it’s thanks to Carlos for everything he has done for the team, for pushing me, for pushing me and improving in everything I do.

“You’ve been incredible.”

Sainz stood with tears in his eyes as he watched Ferrari’s farewell video for him on Sunday evening, the montage recounting the highlights of his career. Four wins, including his first F1 victory. Six pole positions. 25 podium finishes. 900.5 points. Four years worth of C² challenges and countless hours poured into the simulator, testing and engineering meetings. Just as Sainz will be part of Ferrari’s decorated story, Ferrari will always be part of Sainz’s.

His final radio message included “Forza Ferrari, sempre” — Forza Ferrari, always.

Top photo of Carlos Sainz and Ferrari teammates: Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP.