India, April 4 -- From the moment news reached him that Lewis Hamilton would be joining Ferrari in 2025, Carlos Sainz knew that he would need to make way for the seven-time world champion. "It was never going to be Charles," Sainz had quite rightly said last year.

The Monegasque has been a Ferrari project since his junior days, built, groomed and developed by Formula 1's most legendary marque, first at the Ferrari Driver Academy, then in junior Formula series and finally at the pinnacle of the sport itself.

Following 2018, when Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari truly challenged Hamilton and Mercedes for the title, the Scuderia knew Leclerc was their future, bringing him in after just one year at effectively sister team, Alfa Romeo Sauber....