“Made me relive moments”– Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto got Sebastian Vettel Vs Charles Leclerc flashbacks in Sao Paulo GP 2021 after tussle between current duo

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto relived the unstable days of Sebastian Vettel Vs Charles Leclerc in 2019 after the Monegasque tussled with Carlos Sainz.

Ferrari so far is relishing the partnership between Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc amidst their recovery year. However, in Brazil on Sunday, the duo briefly clashed wheel-to-wheel at Turn 4, where Leclerc in 2019 collided with Sebastian Vettel in 2019.

Seeing it, Ferrari boss turned blue as he got a recollection of Vettel Vs Leclerc’s unstable days of 2019. Back then, Ferrari failed to have a pecking order between the two drivers leading to racing conflicts.

However, for Ferrari, Sainz and Leclerc managed not to make contact. Thus, safeguarding the 19 points, Ferrari took from Interlagos in the end.

¡¿ESTO QUÉ ES?! 🤯

Todos por fuera, Leclerc pasando a Carlos Sainz… ¡Locura total! #BrasilDAZNF1 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/vNiwll2Q0V

— DAZN España (@DAZN_ES) November 14, 2021

“They fought among themselves at the start of the race and made me relive moments already experienced two years ago [with Leclerc and Vettel],” Binotto said to Sky Italia. “But it went well. I was afraid, but they didn’t take too many risks.

“They know what they can do with each other. I hope to see them fighting with each other again and that they keep the safety margin they know.”

Also read: McLaren boss admits Ferrari superiority; hard to claim P3 in standings now

Ferrari duo free to race each other

After the race, Sainz and Leclerc were seen chatting, probably discussing the tussle at race start. Though, the Spaniard revealed there is no bad blood between the two drivers.

On the other hand, Binotto also claimed that both drivers are free to race each other on the track. But the priority will always remain the team, asserts the Ferrari team principal.

“Between Carlos and Charles there is always free competition. The priority is the team. If competing against each other means bringing home the team result, there’s no problem.”

“They have to do it with care. I saw that Carlos tried to close Charles down, but he didn’t close so much. He respected our wishes,” he added.

Also read: Ferrari boss urges to introduce radical reverse grid rule after seeing Lewis Hamilton cruising across whole grid in Sao Paulo GP

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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