Home

F1

Ex-Ferrari Boss Proves Carlos Sainz a Better Option for Toto Wolff Than Fernando Alonso as Lewis Hamilton Replacement Still in Question

Published Mar 31, 2024 | 8:48 AM EDT

Follow Us

via Imago

Carlos Sainz is the talk of F1 town. His post-surgery heroics at the Australian Grand Prix have everyone floored. While this Spaniard excels, his compatriot Fernando Alonso has slipped down compared to 2023. Why does this comparison matter? Because both of them could be in contention for the 2025 Mercedes seat. And former Ferrari Manager Peter Windsor believes that Sainz has an edge over Alonso in one key aspect of F1 racing.

Fernando Alonso has already received a multi-year contract from Aston Martin but he’s yet to sign it. After all, the Mercedes seat is wide open to claim for 2025. Though Toto Wolff might not be able to fill the void that Lewis Hamilton has left, Alonso being a 2-time World Champion should be enough of an application boost for him. Despite his achievements, there is one place where Alonso could improve considerably, feels Windsor.

“What I do think is that Alonso makes more mistakes in a qualifying lap than a Lewis, a Max, or a Carlos Sainz,” Windsor emphasized in his YouTube video. “As we saw in Melbourne, he ran over a curb in Q3, right at the end. I don’t think he is as great a qualifier as he is a racing driver. He’s an outstanding qualifier but not as good at qualifying as racing.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Windsor has often criticized the Aston Martin racer’s lack of Qualifying excellence. Maybe that could be what helps Carlos Sainz leave Alonso in the dust in the race to replace Lewis Hamilton.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Helmut Marko in awe of  “Fascinating” Carlos Sainz

After the Australian GP, Ferrari came out as heroes, and Red Bull were the losers. Max Verstappen’s DNF exposed Sergio Perez’s lack of pace, who only finished P5, compared to Carlos Sainz’s victory. After the race, Red Bull team Advisor Helmut Marko was left impressed by Sainz’s form.

“Of course, his (Sainz’s) form is fascinating,” Marko said. “But you have to realise that Checo [Perez] delivered three good races this year. The fact that he fell back so much in Melbourne was due to the damaged underbody and tyre degradation,” he concluded, in Perez’s defence.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Trending

Who Is Bryan Bozzi: Charles Leclerc’s New Race Engineer at Ferrari

Pleasing GF Kelly Piquet’s Dad or Genuine Mistake- Max Verstappen Sparks Debate With Blunder During Ayrton Senna’s Tribute

Red Bull Insider Delivers Bad News to Frederic Vasseur as He Reveals Big “Advantage” Over Ferrari

Who is Oliver Bearman’s father, David Bearman? – Founder & CEO of Multimillion Dollar Company

Hours After Watches Sell for Millions, Michael Schumacher’s $1.6 Million Best Looking Car of All Time Goes Up for Sale

Toto Wolff and the Silver Arrows have a quite a task on their hands. If they sign Carlos Sainz, we could actually get to see if Ferrari were right to fire him for Hamilton

Written by:

Yash Kotak

601Articles

One take at a time

Yash is an F1 writer at EssentiallySports. With a strong passion for communicating through written word and a keen interest in the world of motorsports, he thoroughly enjoys being a fan of F1 and covering it for other fans. Ever since he watched the 'INSIDE TRACKS' episode covering the 2018 German Grand Prix, he has fallen in love with the intriguingly complex world of F1.
Show More>