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Australian Grand Prix champion Carlos Sainz believes that now is the moment to "speed up" discussions and resolve his future "sooner rather than later" as he considers his alternatives for 2025.
The Spaniard was left without a seat on the grid for next year after Ferrari signed Lewis Hamilton to a multi-year contract, meaning Sainz went into the 2024 season knowing it would be his last with the Scuderia. Following his triumph in Australia, Sainz provided an update on his future plans ahead of the fourth race of the season in Japan. "I'm talking obviously to a few [teams], because that's what my management team and myself should do when I don't have a job for next year yet. We're talking to pretty much all of them," the 29-year-old said as quoted by Formula 1. "It's just a matter of obviously going more into detail and seeing the more realistic options, and what are the best options for me and for my future. I don't have any news for you, nothing to say here today. The only thing I would say is that obviously it's time now to speed up a bit everything and hopefully we can get it sorted sooner rather than later," he added. Looking ahead, Sainz offered an update on his health ahead of the Suzuka race, having made an impressive comeback in Melbourne just two weeks after undergoing surgery for appendicitis during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend. Talking about if he is now back to 100 per cent fitness, Sainz said, "I think so, yeah. I've been riding my bike this week, stayed in Australia for a week and started going back to the gym. Still not lifting heavy numbers like I used to do in the past, but at least I can get my training done and [I'm] feeling back to 100 per cent." In terms of whether he can continue his high level of performance from Australia during the forthcoming weekend in Japan, Sainz predicted that the event could be more difficult for Ferrari. "We'll see. I think it's important, like I've always said in the past, to turn the page quickly, in the good and in the bad. I think obviously coming from a good is more difficult to turn the page because you want to stay enjoying the moment, but I turned it on Monday," the three-time race winner stated. "[I] started focusing my training and being back as fit as possible for Japan, also because it's going to be a challenging track for us. I think that last year was one of our most challenging ones in reference to a Red Bull - we were I think seven or eight tenths off, four or five months ago here," he added. (ANI)
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