Lewis Hamilton's message to Carlos Sainz after 'taking' his place at Ferrari

The most discussed topic from the first press conference of the Formula 1 year had Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz, understandably, as protagonists ahead of the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Why? Because the seven-time champion will be the replacement of Sainz at Ferrari and ahead of the 2024 season opener they were "coincidentally" placed together.

But it isn't like they would have been forced to talk anyway, the pair regularly chat and have even showed mutual respect out on track together such as at the 2020 Styrian GP when Hamilton allowed Sainz to un-lap himself.

Yet naturally they were asked about the fact that Hamilton will replace the 29-year-old in one year and both itted it's just business and their relationship hasn't been damaged.

"There's a huge amount of respect between us all and I have a huge amount of respect for Carlos," Hamilton said to media ahead of the Bahrain GP. "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, I don't think it will."

Sainz is more than understanding

Sainz probably didn't expect to depart Maranello until 2026 as there were reports that he was set to become the central figure of the Audi F1 project.

But the sport is cutthroat and teams will waste no time in doing whatever will claw them some extra tenths out on track, which is why Sainz has been replaced by a 103-time grand prix winner.

And the Madrid man isn't bitter about it, he understands why it happened and, of course, he did the same when he took Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari seat in 2020.

"I think this is how the sport works," Sainz said to media. "And obviously I have a lot of respect for Lewis and the success he's had.

"And obviously his choice to Ferrari. I would have done the same in his position."