“Carlos Was Beating Charles Every Week”: Former F1 Driver Claims Carlos Sainz Can Oust Charles Leclerc From Championship Fight in 2023

In Ferrari’s pecking order, Charles Leclerc triumphs over Carlos Sainz. In the 2022 season, the Monegasque race driver had a significant edge over his teammate for the championship battle.

In the first few races in the season, Sainz was way back in contesting for the title, and it always seemed that Leclerc was Ferrari’s de-facto contender to vie against Max Verstappen for the title.

So far, Sainz hasn’t shown any problem with it. But he isn’t shy in talking about his title ambitions and would expect some backing from his team to challenge for the championship over their academy driver.

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Carlos Sainz needs to get comfortable, and he’ll beat Charles Leclerc

While Leclerc gets more backing from the team, and fans consider him their next title winner, former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya feels Sainz only needs to get comfortable to overthrow the 25-year-old.

“To tell the truth, if Carlos can be comfortable in the car, I think he can do a very good job. If we look at the old cars at the end of the year, not last year, Carlos beat Charles every week the previous year,” Montoya says, referencing the 2021 season, where the Spaniard defeated Leclerc in the standings.

In 2023, both drivers will start their campaigns from a clean slate. Ferrari would prefer the driver closest to clinch the championship against their rivals. That was the case with Leclerc last year, and that’s why Sainz obeyed the team’s interests.

And are you helping @Carlossainz55 ?@Charles_Leclerc : “It goes both ways, yes. If one day we fight for the title, I don’t know if that will change, but I think we both have a similar vision of things. Sharing is positive for everyone.” #LEquipe @FredericFerret pic.twitter.com/y6Xphi2wCM

— tami. (@Vetteleclerc) June 19, 2021

No driver preference

New Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur had previously worked with Leclerc when the latter was with Sauber. Therefore, there have been murmurs that the Frenchman would have more inclination towards Leclerc.

However, he disagrees with this analogy. He claims that both drivers have excellent skills and can achieve massive success. So, going into the season, there will be no preference.

But he admits that if, in the season, there is a point when he’ll have to choose among the two drivers to give an edge in the championship, he’ll be decisive enough to make a call on the merit of both drivers.

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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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