Carlos Sainz’s father has claimed that Lewis Hamilton was the one who approached Ferrari (Image: GETTY)
‘s father has claimed that was the one who approached to engineer a move away from .
Shortly before the start of last season, it was confirmed that Hamilton had signed to drive for from 2025 onwards. It resulted in Sainz losing his seat, with the Spaniard going on to join .
Hamilton was said to have activated an exit clause in his contract, with the Silver Arrows reluctant to give him the longer-term deal he initially wanted.
It was reported at the time that chairman John Elkann was the main instigator behind the switch. He was said to have approached Hamilton to gauge his interest in joining their ranks, leading to a deal being agreed.
Sainz left Ferrari to make way for Hamilton and will drive for Williams this year (Image: GETTY)
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However, Sainz’s father Carlos Sr has claimed that Hamilton took it upon himself to enquire about the possibility of joining .
He told : “I wouldn’t describe it as the Scuderia behaving badly. The circumstances of the perfect storm have arisen.
” were happy with Carlos but the possibility appeared because Hamilton himself produced it. It is he who approached , then the circumstances arose.
“Perhaps that process could have been clearer, but then it would have been leaked and did not want it to be.”
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Sainz left on good terms, with the team agreeing to let him drive for Williams in the Abu Dhabi post-season test. They also offered him a private outing at their Fiorano circuit and arranged for his father to get behind the wheel of an F1 car.
“They had a fantastic detail with [Sainz], a gesture that they have not had with practically any driver in their history, which is the farewell,” added Carlos Sr.
“They gave him a car. They invited me to drive in Fiorano with a Formula One [car]. I have no experience in any formula championship, very, very little, so for me it was a big thing.
“I really enjoyed it a lot. The power, the handling and the braking is amazing. To have the chance to be there with my son, what did for him, and invite me to drive together with him was really fantastic.
“It was an unbelievable day. I will never forget it because we really had good fun and obviously the experience to drive a modern Formula One car was unbelievable.”