Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc have a great relationship off the track, but their on-track incidents take a toll on what the public perceives. The Ferrari teammates clashed in Spain last weekend, leading to rumors of a huge rift. They are rivals when it comes to racing, but Sainz came out to heal the alleged cracked relationship with Leclerc after the Spanish GP.
“We always have one or two ding-dongs a year,” said Sainz. They share the track throughout a season, and more often than not, start the races very close to one another. However, there is no rift, he insists. “After 4 years with Charles, the relationship has always been good.”
“We’ve always solved these little ‘ding-dongs’ by ourselves without the help of team principals. (…) I would like to keep it out of the media because it doesn’t help any of us and this is probably the biggest mistake but apart from that, we’re doing the best we can.” pic.twitter.com/1pnBGThNzJ
— yoyo (@ver55tappen) June 27, 2024
The Madrid-born driver goes on to say that they have always overcome on-track tensions without the help of a mediator and that it never affected Ferrari’s dynamics. “I would like to keep it out of the media because it doesn’t help any of us, and this is probably the biggest mistake,” he added.
This topic became the center of attention in Barcelona last weekend when Sainz’s ambitious lunge on Leclerc damaged the latter’s car. Leclerc accused Sainz of wanting to ‘do something spectacular’ in his home race, whereas the Spaniard called him out for complaining about little things.
Regardless, the issue now seems to be resolved, as the Ferrari duo is back to being friends the way they were. Not only Sainz but even Leclerc came out to suggest that things had been sorted.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz flew home together after pinching Spanish GP comments
On the track, competing against the best drivers in the world at speeds more than 200mph releases a lot of adrenaline, which can get the better of one’s emotions. Sometimes, some things are said that the drivers don’t mean. This is what Leclerc said while insisting that he and Sainz are okay.
Leclerc also revealed that he flew back to Italy on the same plane as Sainz on Sunday night and that there was nothing wrong between them.
They clashed on track in Barcelona but Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz patched things up on the flight home #F1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/XacOFQj2Nx
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 27, 2024
After their incident in Spain, Leclerc and Sainz spoke to each other, as the former revealed ahead of the Austrian GP. Leclerc also feels that the issue seems huge from the outside, but they have known each other well for a long time, which is why he isn’t afraid of a meltdown.
However, had Sainz’s move on Leclerc taken the Monegasque out of the race, some very different emotions could have been on display in the aftermath.
