Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have been teammates since 2021 when the latter joined Ferrari. Since then, they have formed a fruitful partnership. While there haven’t been any major tensions between them, things have gotten heated up at times. Sainz and Leclerc joked about that during a recent segment for Shell, one of Ferrari’s sponsors.
A question came up about the drivers “undercutting” each other during F1 races in the past. An undercut is when a driver pits before another racer to gain a position when the latter makes their own stop. Teammates do not like the idea of being undercut, especially when it works against them in the race.
Initially, Leclerc couldn’t remember undercutting Sainz but then the latter reminded him that he did. “When did I,” was a surprised Leclerc’s reaction to Sainz’s revelation. The Madrid-born driver even joked that it hurt him a lot.
Then came Sainz’s turn to feel bad about undercutting Leclerc. In fact, it wasn’t just Sainz, everyone allegedly undercuts Leclerc. When Sainz said that he “unintentionally” undercut his Ferrari teammate once, a sad Leclerc replied by stating, “Everyone undercut me”.
Being undercut does not always lead to bad things for a driver on the track. It all depends on the strategy because in some circuits and under certain conditions, the overcut seems to work better. When drivers attempt the overcut, they intentionally pit later as compared to their rivals to gain the position.
Sainz and Leclerc have had Ferrari’s strategists favor both, depending on the situation. But do they need to choose a number one driver to maximize their championship hopes?
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz’s quest of becoming Ferrari’s number one driver
When Frederic Vasseur became Ferrari’s team principal in 2023, many people thought that the Frenchman will favor Charles Leclerc because of their past ties during the latter’s junior days. However, Vasseur insists that he will not favor any driver.
The former Sauber boss believes that whoever is in a better position will get preference from the team. In 2023, that driver was Leclerc for the most part even though Sainz got his moments. The Spanish driver was the only non-Red Bull driver to get a Grand Prix win last campaign, and that hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Despite Vasseur’s unbiased approach, some fans want Ferrari to choose a number one driver. This is because, favoring both has led to strategy blunders in the past, and they want their focus to be on just one to maximize their championship chances in the future.
