Sainz details Ferrari exit target despite Red Bull obstacle

Carlos Sainz has asserted his desire to finish his Ferrari tenure on a high with more race wins and podiums this season.

Sainz will depart the Maranello-based squad at the end of the current F1 campaign to be replaced by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

The Spaniard has won three races during his stint at Ferrari to date, including the Australian Grand Prix earlier this year.

With 12 races remaining in Ferrari colours, Sainz exclusively spoke to RacingNews365 and explained he is eyeing more success before he departs the team.

“I'm hoping we can target more race wins and podiums,” he said. “I think in the end, this has to be the target this year. 

“The championship, we realise that it's a very tough task given the level of Red Bull and Max [Verstappen].

“But targeting podiums race wins, I think has to be the target of Ferrari this year and I'm going to be there to try and get them like I've been there these last three years.

“Every time there's been an opportunity, we’ve taken them. So keeping myself there and enjoying every single moment of this last year [is the target].”

Sainz 'really proud' of Austrian GP win

After the opening 12 rounds of the season, Sainz sits fourth in the drivers' championship - should he maintain the position until the end of the year, it would mark a career-best result in F1.

Further trips to the podium would help his case, as he aims to add to the five he has already bagged this year.

The Spaniard's unexpected victory in Melbourne came just two weeks after he missed the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix due to appendicitis, leaving him to describe it as one of the happiest moments of his career.

“I was really proud, not so much because of the win itself, but where I was coming from a bit at the beginning of the year,” he said.

“Obviously the bad news that I wasn't going to continue [with Ferrari], then the fact that I put together a strong start to the season, then the operation, missing out on a race and having to bounce back from that straight into a win.

“It was a very special moment in my career, something that made me feel very proud, very special. Probably one of my happiest moments of my life.”