Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc battled one another in the opening lap of the F1 Sprint in Austria.
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding who Ferrari’s real number one drivers is. A lot of people feel that the team’s reluctance to appoint a number one driver will hand Max Verstappen the World Title.
Leclerc has not been on the podium since Miami in April, and a big reason behind that has been the Scuderia’s strategy. Despite them not prioritizing any driver, the Monegasque seems like he’s getting the worst of their strategy decisions whereas Sainz has seen a return in form.
Ahead of the Austrian GP this week, team principal Mattia Binotto insisted that they still won’t appoint any number one driver. Leclerc and Sainz were free to fight each other and that’s what they did during the F1 Sprint in Spielberg.
The Ferrari teammates battled each other during the opening lap, with Sainz briefly passing his teammate as well. Their scrap gave Verstappen a good two second lead, which he was able to maintain for the remaining part of the race.
Red Bull chief Helmut Marko takes a dig at Ferrari drivers
Helmut Marko was not kind with his words when describing how easy it was for Max Verstappen to win the F1 Sprint. Red Bull are favorites for tomorrow’s race in the Styrian hills, but the major reason behind that is not Verstappen or his RB18.
It is the fact that the Ferrari drivers are free to fight each other, which makes it easy for the Dutchman to pull away. After the Sprint race on Saturday, the Red Bull advisor shared his thoughts on this to the media.
“We accept it gratefully,” he said when asked about Leclerc and Sainz battling. “Ferrari helped us in that they fought each other, so we easily had a two-second lead.”
“And then Max managed it confidently,” the 79-year old said. He then praised Verstappen’s teammate Perez, who put up a stunning display to end up in P5 after starting 13th. “In the initial phase, he made sure that there was no damage,” Marko added.
Verstappen will start tomorrow’s race on pole after finishing the Sprint race in P1. Leclerc and Sainz will line up behind the 24-year old in P2 and P3 respectively.
