Damon Hill Gives Reality Check After Carlos Sainz Lashed Out at Charles Leclerc for Complaining Too Much

Damon Hill Gives Reality Check After Carlos Sainz Lashed Out at Charles Leclerc for Complaining Too Much

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.”

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.

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.”

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
carlos sainz Charles Leclerc Damon Hill Lewis Hamilton Spanish GP

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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