Carlos Sainz won the 2024 Australian GP, ending Max Verstappen’s run of nine-consecutive victories. Meanwhile, his teammate Charles Leclerc had to swallow the bitter pill, and accept defeat on a weekend that simply wasn’t his. Losing against one’s teammate is particularly bad for a driver’s reputation, which is why Dutch journalist Eric van Haren felt Leclerc was in a very foul mood.
Publicly, Leclerc insisted that he was delighted with Ferrari’s 1-2. Van Haren, however, couldn’t help but notice Leclerc in a hotel, and concluded that he was very upset with himself. F1 Maximaal quoted Van Haren’s comments, “You just go crazy when your teammate beats you.”
First podium of 2024 + fastest lap
Maximum we could do this weekend with Ollie doing an amazing job jumping in for one weekend at the last minute.
See you in Australiaaa ! pic.twitter.com/L7QzawtAcC— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) March 10, 2024
Van Haren added that Leclerc’s behavior was normal, because Sainz has gotten the better of him not once, but twice this season. The Ferrari stars have raced each other on two occasions, and Sainz finished comfortably ahead both times. Before losing to Sainz in Melbourne, Leclerc missed out on the podium in Bahrain’s season opener. He finished P4, a big margin behind Sainz who ended his race on the third step of the podium.
This puts the 26-year-old in an awkward position given how Ferrari retained him and decided to let his teammate go. Leclerc is now failing to keep up with Sainz and justify the decision made by the Ferrari higher-ups before the season started.
Carlos Sainz has the upper hand over Charles Leclerc
Just two weeks after undergoing an emergency appendicitis surgery in Saudi Arabia, Sainz drove a brilliant race in Melbourne to celebrate on the top step of an F1 podium. So far, Sainz has a better claim at being the number one Ferrari driver, although it is still early days into the season.
Leclerc is particularly strong in qualifying, as evident by his performances over the last few years. Still, Sainz managed to get the better of him in this front, as he secured a P2 start in Melbourne, allowing him to be on Max Verstappen’s tail from the very get-go.
My road to recovery and a little tribute to the people that made this weekend happen. Now time to get back training, in good shape and prepare the next few races. THANK YOU! pic.twitter.com/FOVffTO6FH
— Carlos Sainz (@Carlossainz55) March 26, 2024
Experts at De Telegraaf podcast (as quoted by F1 Maximaal) also feel that Leclerc holds the edge when it comes to pure pace. Unfortunately for the Monegasque, the SF-24 seems to suit Sainz better, allowing him to get more out of the car.
However, Leclerc’s effort to close the gap to Sainz in the last stint in Melbourne did not go unnoticed. He was trailing Sainz by more than 5 seconds in lap 43, a gap that came down to just over two seconds when they took the chequered flag (although there was a Virtual Safety Car on track).
