Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc had a few nervy moments towards the end of the 2023 Italian GP while dueling for third place. After the race, when Leclerc was reliving those final tense moments, McLaren driver and Sainz’s close friend Lando Norris, decided to quip about the Spaniard getting a penalty for his driving.
Sainz was on top of his game throughout the race weekend in Monza. He was fast in free practice and transpired that pace into qualifying by getting the pole position. In the race, he held Max Verstappen off for 14 laps, which is more than what any non-Red Bull driver has been able to achieve so far this season.
Unfortunately, the Red Bull cars were too fast for his SF-23, and Sainz lost both P1 and P2. In the end, the race was about the Madrid-born driver staying in front of his teammate Leclerc. However, the Monegasque driver did not let it go without a fight. After a tense battle, Sainz prevailed, but Leclerc shed light on how difficult those final few laps were in the post-race interview on F1TV.
Lando Norris calls for Carlos Sainz penalty?
Sainz and Norris are incredibly close, despite not being teammates anymore. As a result, they still joke with each other, and as evident, about each other even when they aren’t together. In the post-race interview with F1TV, Leclerc was talking about his duel with Sainz in front of Norris.
The Monegasque driver stated that Sainz was moving a lot under braking, which made things very difficult for him. Since moving under braking isn’t permitted in F1, Norris decided to jump in and simply say, “Penalty”.
Because of the nature of their relationship, Norris was surely joking about Sainz getting a penalty. For the 29-year-old, however, the Italian GP weekend was the best outing for him so far this season.
Dream weekend for Sainz; work to do for Ferrari
Sainz has had a very difficult 2023 season so far. Although he is ahead of Leclerc in the standings, he hasn’t found a high level of consistency with his performances. However, the Italian GP weekend will surely boost his confidence.
Standing on the Monza podium in front of thousands of Tifosi celebrating in front of him was surely a dream moment for the Spaniard. Looking back on the weekend as a whole, Ferrari have made progress, considering how their campaign has gone so far. They even jumped Aston Martin to take P3 in the Constructors’ Championship for now.
However, overall, they still have a lot of work to do before they can dream of winning races. This was evident as despite putting in his best shift, Carlos Sainz struggled to hold of Verstappen and Sergio Perez on Sunday.
