FILE PHOTO: Formula One F1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku City Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan - April 27, 2023 Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton ahead of the Grand Prix REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo
SAKHIR, Bahrain (Reuters) - Spaniard Carlos Sainz said he had no hard feelings towards seven times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton over the Briton's impending move to Ferrari as his replacement.
Hamilton will take Sainz’s seat alongside Charles Leclerc at the Italian glamour team next season in a shock move announced earlier this month.
"I think this is how the sport works and obviously I have a lot of respect for Lewis and the success he’s had and obviously his choice to join Ferrari," said Sainz sitting alongside Hamilton in a Bahrain Grand Prix press conference on Wednesday.
"I would have done the same in his position," added the 29-year-old, who himself replaced four times champion Sebastian Vettel at the Maranello-based team in 2021.
Hamilton, who has not won a race since 2021, signed a two-year extension with Mercedes only last August but activated a break clause to sign a multi-year deal with Ferrari.
The 39-year-old has said he wanted to start a new chapter in his record-breaking Formula One story.
Ferrari are the sport’s most successful team but have not won a drivers’ title since Kimi Raikkonen’s 2007 championship.
"There’s a huge amount of respect between us all and I have a huge amount of respect for Carlos," said the 103-time race winner. "I don’t feel like there’s any animosity or anything like that.
"It’s not a personal thing, it’s what happens in this racing world and I hope that nothing changes between us through that,” added Hamilton. "I don’t think it will."
(Reporting by Abhishek Takle, editing by Toby Davis)
