The Ferrari camp was not the place to be after the 2024 Spanish GP. The duo of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc had pretty harsh words to say about each other in the aftermath of their lap 7 coming together.
The incident in question occurred when Sainz tried a move around the outside of Leclerc going into turn 1. Contact ensued, and the #55 driver had to take to the escape road to clinch P5 away from Leclerc. In the aftermath, a war of words took place between the duo where Sainz remarked that Leclerc “complained too much”.
Sky Sports F1’s Simon Lazenby put these quotes before 1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill. In response, Hill had a reality check in store for Sainz and all the other drivers on the grid. He said (as quoted on Twitter (now X)), “Carlos just complained about Lewis! They’re all the same.”
️| Simon Lazenby: “Does Charles complain too much after the races? That’s what Carlos said.”
Damon Hill: “Carlos just complained about Lewis! They’re all the same.”
— Ferrari News (@FanaticsFerrari) June 23, 2024
Hill was referring to an incident between the #55 driver and Lewis Hamilton when the 39-year-old was on the inside but did not give up the position as he tried to overtake the Spaniard. As a result, Sainz was pushed towards the outside kerb and had to yield the place to the seven-time world champion.
The Ferrari driver then came onto his team radio and asked his side to report the incident. The stewards noted the incident but deemed it not worthy of any further investigation. This prompted the Spaniard to rant over the radio about the rule book and questioned why the stewards did not adhere to it.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz defend themselves after intense Spanish GP
Both Leclerc and Sainz had their own versions of how things panned out during the race. Leclerc was unhappy with his teammate because there was reportedly an understanding between them about saving the tires in the opening stint.
The #16 driver was not happy that Sainz did not respect this understanding and attacked him on lap 7 of the race. Leclerc lamented the Spaniard’s actions and deemed them unnecessary from his perspective.
️| Carlos Sainz:
“Charles wasn’t happy with me?”
“For me it was clear, we had a new soft and we had to attack. I don’t what happened to him in the first lap, but I couldn’t stay behind him all my life.”
“I don’t know what he’s complaining about this time.”
— Ferrari News (@FanaticsFerrari) June 23, 2024
Sainz, on the other hand, unsurprisingly defended himself. He was quoted as saying, “For me it was clear, we had a new soft and we had to attack. I don’t know what happened to him in the first lap, but I couldn’t stay behind him all my life. I don’t know what he’s complaining about this time.”
