“It pushed him to work even more”– Former Ferrari driver thinks Carlos Sainz playing crucial role in Charles Leclerc’s growth

Tanish Chachra | 20/02/2022
"To be even fighting for the pole position today" - Carlos Sainz pleasantly surprised with Bahrain GP P3; rues missing out on pole to Charles Leclerc

Former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa thinks Carlos Sainz plays a crucial role in Charles Leclerc’s growth over the last season.

In 2021, Ferrari got a reliable pair of drivers after replacing Sebastian Vettel with Carlos Sainz. In his first year with the Maranello based team, Sainz outscored Leclerc. An impressive result considering the Monegasque had more experience with Ferrari’s machinery.

But even Leclerc had a decent points haul. Thus, the two drivers effectively contributed to Ferrari’s return to the top 3. Now, going into the 2022 season, the drivers’ duo is expected to maintain the standards.

Former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa thinks that Ferrari’s strong point is its drivers. Moreover, he thinks Sainz plays a crucial role in Leclerc’s progress.

“Ferrari’s problem is not the drivers. They are strong and close in performance. Carlos helped Charles grow. It pushed him to work even more “Massa stressed.

The two drivers recently took out 2022 car F1-75 on the track at Fiorano, where the car looked promising after a 15-km long run ahead of the Barcelona tests.

Also read: Ferrari expresses support to the FIA’s decisions and Michael Masi following the Abu Dhabi GP

Hope Ferrari is more efficient

Now, with Ferrari going into 2022, the new regulations can change the tides of the competition. Massa thinks that Mercedes and Red Bull have the edge over others, but surprises can happen.

“It is easy to imagine that Mercedes and Red Bull are in the front. But with such changes, surprises can happen, just find something and you find yourself in front of it.”

“My hope is that Binotto has managed to make the team more efficient “, declared the 2008 championship runner while interviewed by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Ferrari is expected to take a couple of odd wins during the 23-long race calendar. Apart from that, nothing more is expected from the Italian team.

Now, it only remains to be seen how good they will be going into the next season.

Also read: Ferrari will not shy away from copying other team’s innovative designs for the 2022 championship

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
carlos sainz Charles Leclerc ferrari

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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