Ferrari last won a championship in 2008, have struggled to bring glory back to Maranello since. After showing resurgence late in 2023, fans believe the 2024 season might see them make the push for the title once again. However, Ralf Schumacher believes it won’t be the case, especially because of the uncertainty around their drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, as he revealed while appearing on the Formula For Success podcast.
“[With] Both drivers, you never know what they’ll do: they’re leading a race, they spin off, or they’re crashing – not really into each other but making silly mistakes, which very often surprises me.”
Sainz and Leclerc have been teammates since 2021, but they haven’t been part of a proper title challenge yet. Both are talented, with Leclerc especially being labeled as the ‘chosen one’ to win a world championship with Ferrari. But as Schumacher pointed out, if they keep making errors, they won’t live up to expectations.
After a relatively strong 2022 season, fans thought Ferrari could push Red Bull once again in 2023. However, things took a turn for the worse for the Italian team, who were nowhere near good enough.
Schumacher spoke of teams that will battle for the title in the upcoming season. While taking the names of Red Bull, Mercedes, and McLaren, he omitted Ferrari’s name, leading to him detailing the reason behind the same. However, he added that the true measure of Ferrari’s competitiveness for the 2024 season will come after the pre-season testing, but maintains he has little faith in the team.
There are chances of Schumacher being wrong, though. The Maranello-based team introduced strong upgrades to their car in the latter stages of last season. Furthermore, the team is starting to work like a well-oiled machine under Frederic Vasseur. The only thing Ferrari has to keep an eye out for is their driver dynamic.
Carlos Sainz not afraid to “bite” Ferrari teammate
Sainz claims that he has a great relationship with Leclerc, stemming from a spectacular on-track partnership. Per Sainz, both the Ferrari drivers are almost on equal terms with each other with regard to performance, as they are often within just half a tenth of a second of each other. Despite Leclerc winning the head-to-head battle in 2023, Sainz’s GP win added a golden feather to his cap, calling for parity between both drivers.
Given the same, Sainz implied he wasn’t afraid to “bite” Leclerc should the opportunity present itself.
“I bite when I see an opportunity to bite and keep quiet when I have to keep quiet.”
Both drivers are heading into the 2024 season on their last year of contract and will be eager to perform well in order to earn a desirable contract. As such, the intra-team competition might be much more intense even though the Spaniard claims healthy competition between teammates is key to their team’s success.
