Vasseur shares motivation for early Sainz Ferrari exit call

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has revealed the reason why he told Carlos Sainz he would not be re-signed so early in the year.

When the Scuderia confirmed Lewis Hamilton would join in 2025, it put an end to the Spanish driver's tenure at Maranello.

The announcement the seven-time drivers' champion had signed for the Italian team was news enough, but the timing also came as a surprise.

Sainz has since taken a drive at Williams, committing long-term to the project at the Grove-based squad, but it took six months for the 29-year-old to reach a decision.

To Vasseur, a key reason for breaking the news in early February was allow Sainz, who was told some weeks prior, to focus on the season ahead.

"If you have a look at the first part of the season, considering the fact that he also missed Jeddah, he was doing very well," the 56-year-old told media including RacingNews365 when discussing his outgoing driver.

"He's very professional, very consistent, and it was a part of my motivation at the beginning [of the year] to do the announcement quite early to have him focused.

"I knew that at some stage he would have to sign somewhere and this could be a distraction, but it was much better to anticipate it.

"But honestly, the approach of Carlos is mega professional, and he was mega professional from day one this season, as he was last year - I can compare the two on his behaviour."

Vasseur was full of praise for Sainz and rejected the idea that off-track distractions had effects on-track for the three-time grand prix winner.

The Spaniard started the season in fine form, taking a podium in the opening round and winning the Australian Grand Prix just weeks after missing the round in Saudi Arabia due to appendicitis, for which he was operated on.

He followed that up with another third-place finish in Japan and has consistently scored good points, as well as two further trips to the rostrum.

With no announcement of his new home in F1, media attention on his next move gradual grew in the run up to the summer shutdown - something Vasseur was quick to highlight.

"The last couple of weeks [prior to the summer break], for sure [the media] had more questions than before and it's a kind of distraction," the Frenchman admitted.

"But if you have a look [in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix], he did a mega job [in] Q1 [and] Q2.

"It's only the last lap of Q3 that he made a mistake on Turn 1. You don't have to draw a conclusion on the fact that he braked just five meters too late, it's not a consequence of something - he was in front of Charles [Leclerc] [in Q1 [and] Q2."