Carlos Sainz Proves He Is a Bigger Fan of Gladiator Than Charles Leclerc at Gladiator II Premier

The Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz made a surprise appearance at the premiere of the movie Gladiator II in London earlier this week. Wearing stunning Ferrari tuxedos, both Leclerc and Sainz expressed their love for the movie, whose first part came out in the year 2000. Sainz, however, one-upped Leclerc on that front.

He turned out to be a bigger fan of the franchise because Leclerc had only watched the original Gladiator movie—starring Russell Crowe—a few days before attending the premiere. “I am going to be completely honest. I hadn’t watched Gladiator 1 until 4-5 days ago,” Leclerc said to Craig Slater of Sky Sports F1.

Sainz, meanwhile, added, “For me, Gladiator I is a legendary movie that I watched obviously when I was a kid and then I think I must have watched it 3 or 4 other times.”

The Spaniard also rewatched it a few days ago to recollect the story. It made him “realize what a good piece of film it is” and he must’ve considered himself lucky to be among the first people to watch it in the world.

As for their tuxedos, Leclerc highlighted how Ferrari did an exceptional job of customizing them. “We are very happy and proud to be wearing tonight,” the Monegasque driver added.

Soon, the interview took a more informal turn, with the lead actor of the movie Paul Mescal joining Leclerc and Sainz in front of the camera.

Mescal recalls his time with Leclerc and Sainz in Austin

The United States GP has traditionally been a great place to do some celebrity spotting, and for those who kept an eye out in 2024, Mescal was one of the attendees. He was in the Ferrari garage earlier this year, something he brought up during his film’s premiere.

When Slater asked him how that went, the 28-year-old replied, “To be in the paddock for Austin, I hope I surprised the boys with a little bit of my knowledge, I was asking them hopefully nerdy questions.”

The Irish actor mentioned how he is “right up to date” about what happens in F1 and loves knowing about the sport’s technical side.

Paul Mescal, Charles Leclerc, and Carlos Sainz at the ‘Gladiator ll’ world premiere. pic.twitter.com/4T0zPTSB7B

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 14, 2024

Mescal added that he “loves to get a peek behind the curtain” for any sport he follows, recalling how he asked Leclerc and Sainz about their car setups, much to the amusement of the Ferrari duo.

Sainz then mentioned that they also inquired about the production aspects of a movie like Gladiator, including the number of people involved and other details.