Based on the treatment Bottas used to get at Mercedes, quite a few Spanish fans figured Sainz would end up like Bottas and spend a year as a reserve driver at Ferrari.
So of course, the Spanish fans didn't have any friendly faces for Qin Miao, the so‑called culprit behind it all.
But in reality, Sainz and Ferrari hadn't really had any explosive conflicts during their time working together, and Ferrari weren't planning to freeze Sainz's contract.
There was no need—Sainz couldn't beat Leclerc in a Ferrari, let alone Qin Miao, so letting him go posed no threat to Ferrari.
At the same time Sainz knew his own age; if Ferrari really locked him up for a year, his market value would tank once he left, because after a whole year without touching a race car, nobody could say what his form would be like.
So after talking things through, Sainz and Ferrari agreed to terminate the contract by mutual consent at the end of next season.
