The fact that Charles Leclerc is the apple of Ferrari’s eye is a very common belief among the F1 community. However, looking back at what happened to former Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen in 2009 might cause one to think otherwise. Fans are fearing the worst, and wondering if Ferrari is intentionally sabotaging Leclerc in order to secure a hefty sponsorship deal.
Kimi Raikkonen was the last driver to win a world championship for Ferrari. However, following the Finn’s drivers’ tile victory in 2007, he was barely given any time to recover from his rough patch of form in 2008. Just two years after leading the Italian team to glory, Raikkonen was removed as a Ferrari driver. He was replaced by Spanish driver Fernando Alonso for the 2010 season.
It was reported that Raikkonen’s poor form in 2008 and 2009 was no coincidence. It was widely speculated that Ferrari had intentionally sabotaged Raikkonen so that they could clear a seat for Alonso. This is because Ferrari had tied up with Spanish multinational bank Santander in 2010. The new sponsor apparently pushed for a Spanish driver at Ferrari to help their own marketing cause.
Ferrari could not lose out on Felipe Massa because of the massive importance of the Brazilian market. Therefore, it was assumed that Ferrari sabotaged Raikkonen to make sure that he didn’t win a second championship. This made it easier for them to let go of the former McLaren driver, and replace him with the two-time world champion Spaniard.
Do Ferrari prefer Carlos Sainz over Charles Leclerc?
Raikkonen revealed what had happened to him at Ferrari during an interview with Autosport in 2010. He said, “I think when there is enough money involved, you can always change anything!”
He targeted the then-new sponsors of Ferrari directly and said, “I think it’s a lot to do with Santander coming in. Probably they made some deal. I don’t know.”
Santander left Ferrari for quite some time, but returned in 2022. It is evident that Santander’s return has a lot to do with Ferrari appointing Madrid-born driver Carlos Sainz as their new Spanish asset. Fans believe that Ferrari would not want to annoy their sponsor which is why they would prioritize Sainz over Leclerc any day.
Carlos Sainz is pushing for a contract renewal with Ferrari, but hasn’t been offered a new deal yet. However, it shouldn’t be too long before he is offered an extension. And as for Leclerc, fans believe that Ferrari would want him to look worse than Sainz so that they can justify providing an extension to Sainz.
Is Ferrari sabotaging Leclerc?
All of the aforementioned reasons have led fans to believe that Ferrari might be compromising Leclerc’s races. On top of that, the Monegasque driver’s latest results aren’t helping Ferrari’s cause at all.
The latest example of Ferrari’s strategic incompetence came at the Canadian GP. Despite repeatedly asking for dry tires, Leclerc was forced to put in a lap on inters during Q2. This led to the Monegasque getting disqualified in Q2.This is just one of the many strategic errors that have plagued Leclerc ever since the start of the 2022 season.
