Sainz will “take time” to decide future team

In brief

Sainz will “take time” to decide future

Sainz, who will leave Ferrari at the end of this year, says he is in no rush to commit to his next Formula 1 team at this early phase of the year.

“I feel prepared and ready to take my fourth year as a good challenge here in Ferrari,” Sainz told the official F1 channel. “Obviously next year the team will be different and I will be moving somewhere else, but I still have no idea where.

“I’m going to take my time to take the decision. The right decision for me, for my career, for the next three or four years that I might be in the next place that I go to. In order for that I need time to see the whole situation of all the teams and see who is offering the best chance for me to be world champion in the future.”

New Mercedes “much nicer to drive” – Hamilton

After Lewis Hamilton notched up 123 laps and the third-fastest time of pre-season testing so far in his first full day of running in Mercedes’ W15, the seven-times world champion says he has a good first impression of the car

“It was a productive day out there,” Hamilton said. “We gathered lots of learnings about the W15, both in our long running and single lap work.

“We’ve clearly made an improvement with this year’s car and it’s much nicer to drive. We’ve still got progress to make of course. But this is a good foundation for us to build on. We’ll keep our heads down and continue to work to find improvements, both over the rest of the test and into next week.”

Croft to sit out three rounds in 2024

Sky F1 lead commentator David Croft will sit out of three rounds over this season and will be replaced by Formula 3 commentator Harry Benjamin.

Croft has been Sky’s lead commentator alongside Martin Brundle since the British satellite broadcaster took over exclusive rights to all live F1 coverage in the UK in 2012. Croft has commentated for all 243 grands prix in that time, but says he is choosing to miss three of this year’s 24 rounds.

“So, here’s a little bit of news for you all – 24 races this season, but I’m going to miss three of them,” Croft posted on social media. “Will be a bit strange as it’s been a while (2007) since I last missed one. Good luck and welcome to the team to Harry Benjamin who’s standing in for me.”