How Carlos Sainz showed his class during tough Ferrari farewell tour

Hours after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz was struggling to hold back the tears. A monitor was wheeled out into the paddock to display a farewell video Ferrari had produced as a send-off after the Spaniard’s four years at Maranello.

All team members were wearing a special cap that Ferrari had produced for the occasion, with Sainz wearing his backwards so the embroidered “Grazie Carlos” message at the back was better visible.

Sainz’s faultless second place behind Lando Norris was not quite enough to help Ferrari snatch the world title away from McLaren, but it signified the end of a four-year period in which the 30-year-old left no stone unturned to help his dream team return to the front of Formula 1.

It was also the emotional apotheosis of what has been a challenging year for Sainz, learning on the eve of the season that his fourth campaign in Maranello would be his last, with the Madrid native the unfortunate victim of Ferrari’s successful efforts to pry Lewis Hamilton loose from Mercedes.

Losing your seat in F1 is never easy, but Sainz had every right to be deflated after he had already proven doubters wrong once before. When his 2021 move to Ferrari was revealed, few observers imagined he would be anything more than a solid second driver to Ferrari’s golden child Charles Leclerc, arguably F1’s fastest qualifier.

But while Leclerc indeed had the measure of Sainz over one lap, the Spaniard’s talent, determination and work ethic ensured he managed not only to keep up with Leclerc as they traded spells of having the upper hand on each other, but he also played an instrumental role in helping Ferrari turn its form around under team boss Fred Vasseur.

Indeed, some fiery radio messages aside as they fought over the same tarmac at times, Sainz and Leclerc kept their relationship intact in what has been a complementary alliance, with Leclerc commissioning a tribute helmet to his team-mate for last weekend. It is clear that Ferrari would have been more than happy to continue with the pairing had the unique opportunity to sign Hamilton not presented itself, but with no other top-line seats becoming available, that didn’t make Sainz’s impending move away from a race-winning car any easier to take.

Sainz bows out with four race wins for Ferrari, two coming this season as he recovered from appendicitis to win in Melbourne, and another in Mexico. “Life is such a rollercoaster,”…