Carlos Sainz Has One Foot Out The Door Unless Charles Leclerc Gets Kicked Out of Ferrari, According to Reports

The speculations surrounding the future of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc do not seem to cease, as there are widespread concerns that the two do not see eye to eye. As per the latest report from El Nacional, the Spaniard has made it clear to Ferrari that he will only stay at the team if the Monegasque leaves the team.

This report interestingly came out just a week after Sainz told the media that there were no tensions within the team. The 29-year-old responded to the media after rumors arose that the Italian outfit had been favoring Leclerc over him.

Charles is one of the best if not the best drivers on w2w racing pic.twitter.com/rKGxn8zdri

— Cande (@candeleclerc16) October 10, 2023

When asked about the same, Sainz said (as per DAZN Espana), “It’s pretty clear on our contracts. And on our driving that the number 1 priority is Ferrari. You put Ferrari first, everything else comes after“.

Carlos Sainz gives an ultimatum to Ferrari

According to El Nacional, Carlos Sainz has made it clear to Ferrari that he will only extend his stay if Charles Leclerc leaves the team. The report adds that the Spaniard has grown increasingly frustrated with the team attempting to improve the Monegasque’s results more than his despite him performing better than the 25-year-old this year.

Sainz has indeed performed better than Leclerc this season, with him being eight points ahead of the Monegasque in the championship. Moreover, the 29-year-old is also the only non-Red Bull driver this season to register a win.

The former McLaren driver stood on the top step of the podium when he won the Singapore Grand Prix a month ago. Since Sainz has performed better than Leclerc this year, he will also not be short on offers if he decides to leave.

Which teams could sign Sainz?

As per the same report put out by El Nacional, both Alpine and McLaren are keen on signing Carlos Sainz. The report states that the Spaniard could replace Esteban Ocon as the French outfit are not achieving the desired results with the 27-year-old.

The report adds that the only reason that Sainz may be hesitant to sign for Alpine is because of where the team finds themselves at the moment. The French outfit have underperformed massively as they are currently sixth in the championship with 90 points, a whopping 129 points behind fifth-placed McLaren, another team that has links with Sainz.

Even though McLaren have links with Sainz, the major concern is that the team already seems to have a settled line-up with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Hence, the report states that Sainz can only get an opportunity to sign for them if Norris leaves the team to join Red Bull or another rival.