Former Ferrari Driver Snubs Possibility of Ferrari Losing Its ‘Solid’ Driver Duo, Despite Admitting the Italian Team Is ‘Tiring’ Its Champions

Ferrari, despite being one the most iconic teams in F1 history, is in the midst of one of its biggest slumps. Their cars not performing up to the mark has led to an ‘unsettled’ atmosphere around their current driver lineup. However, former Ferrari driver Giancarlo Fisichella claims the duo is best suited to the prancing horse’s ideology and that they are well aware of the team’s aim. But the Italian also insists Ferrari should not take their drivers for granted, as they seem to be ‘tiring’ them out.

Over the last few years, Ferrari has developed a car that showed a lot of promise but failed to deliver when it mattered the most. Their performances have been inconsistent and riddled with mechanical failures. Charles Leclerc shed some light on the car’s design flaw as he said he would have an “oversteery balance” and then a “huge understeery balance,” making the car extremely wind affected. Thus, Ferrari has failed to hit the right spot with their cars, often leading to underwhelming results.

Out of the two drivers, Leclerc in particular has shown signs of  being good enough to win a championship in the future. However, given that their car cannot always be trusted, he might be getting more and more frustrated with each passing day.

Giancarlo Fisichella believes Ferrari will retain their driver duo

Having been a part of Ferrari in F1, Fisichella is well aware of the pressure that comes with representing the Maranello-based outfit. Both Leclerc and Sainz have been impressive while donning the Ferrari colors, and Fisichella is almost certain his former team will be able to retain its near-perfect driver lineup. However, as per Marca he also gave a word of caution to the team to not take things too lightly.

“There is a rivalry between them, but they are smart guys and they know they have to work for the team. The problem is that if you don’t have a winning car, after a while the champion gets tired.”

Reports on the future of both drivers, especially Carlos Sainz, could be distracting for Ferrari. While Leclerc might be close to signing a new deal with the team, the same cannot be said about his Spanish counterpart.

Ferrari’s driver lineup might ‘break up’

There have been strong reports that suggest Charles Leclerc will soon sign a five-year contract extension worth $198,500,000 million with his current team. The same cannot be the expectation around Carlos Sainz, though, as the Spaniard might head in a new direction.

 

Fred Vasseur has put Charles Leclerc’s contract renewal at Ferrari at the top of his agenda for a few weeks.

Leaving that of Carlos Sainz on stand-by for the moment, who at least unofficially does not seem to have taken it very well. pic.twitter.com/aPOQvBkvO9

— Q. (@leclercstyre) July 12, 2023

Some reports have suggested that Sainz has agreed to a pre-contract deal with Audi. And will move to the German team once they enter F1 in 2026. Meanwhile, other reports suggest there have been no such developments, and the 28-year-old is hopeful of a continued association with the Italian team.

As doubts loom over both Ferrari drivers’ futures, team principal Fred Vasseur has recently spoken about his plans of negotiating a new contract with the drivers. Vasseur will open talks after the Japanese GP while hoping to get signatures from the duo during winter.