mobile app bar

“It Cost Us Both Positions”: Carlos Sainz Pins Blame on Charles Leclerc for Ferrari’s Woeful Race Start in China

Anirban Aly Mandal
Published

“It Cost Us Both Positions”: Carlos Sainz Pins Blame on Charles Leclerc for Ferrari’s Woeful Race Start in China

It was a disappointing outing at the 2024 Chinese GP for Ferrari. Both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished outside the podium places at the chequered flag in P4 and P5, respectively. But, the troubles for the Scuderia are deeper than their results. A first-lap skirmish between Leclerc and Sainz comprised their start and the team were not able to recover from it from there onwards.

During the start, Charles Leclerc squeezed his teammate off the track at the turn 1 right-hander. Speaking of this incident post-race, Sainz was quoted on X (formerly Twitter) as saying, “I’d prefer not to comment, but it’s obviously quite clear that it cost us both positions. So yeah, it didn’t help either of us.”

This little incident, termed as payback for Sainz‘s aggressive move on Leclerc during the Sprint Race by Sky Sports F1 commentator Nico Rosberg, turned out to be costly for the Ferrari duo. Into the snaily turn 2, the likes of George Russell and Nico Hulkenberg jumped the Ferraris.

Team boss, Frederic Vasseur was philosophical about the entire incident. He acknowledged that it was not ideal to lose positions like that at the start. However, the Frenchman argued that the finishing order at the chequered flag was pretty much how they had qualified.

That being said, the gloves are finally off at the Scuderia. On Saturday, Leclerc was at the receiving end of Sainz getting his elbows out during the Sprint Race. In the Grand Prix, it was Leclerc who was in the mood to serve some revenge.

Will Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc’s bond deteriorate in their last year together?

Carlos Sainz’s apathy towards helping his teammate’s cause is understandable. He is on his way out of the team at the end of this season. Naturally, without a drive for next year, the Spaniard needs to impress the top teams. This may come at the cost of his teammate, with Sainz seemingly driving only for himself this year.

During their time as teammates, both, Leclerc and Sainz have maintained a harmonious relationship. But, as things stand at Ferrari, Sainz’s zeal to beat Leclerc in his last season with the team could hurt their relationship and the mood within the Ferrari camp.

Inklings of this discord have already started showing. After the sprint race incident, Leclerc was quoted as saying that the two had discussed the incident and had buried the hatchet. However, Sainz didn’t seem to receive the PR memo. The Spaniard claimed that the two were yet to speak.

Previously, the Ferrari drivers have spoken things out whenever they have clashed in races. The 2023 Italian GP is a classic example of the same. Both Leclerc and Sainz went hammer and tongs in the closing laps at Monza, which could have caused a double DNF for the Scuderia!

Post that tussle, Vasseur sat down with both drivers to settle their differences and unite them again ahead of the next race in Singapore. So, one can expect a similar sitdown after their Chinese GP tussle, despite Sainz being on notice period at Maranello.

Post Edited By:Aishwary Gaonkar

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal

linkedin-icon

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.

Share this article