Carlos Sainz spoke again about what happened in Las Vegas with Charles Leclerc, here are the words of the Spanish driver.
Ferrari is preparing to start the weekend of the Qatar Grand Prix with many uncertainties and, perhaps, one certainty: winning in Losail will be really difficult. Both drivers, through their statements, have mentioned that the track is not well-suited to the characteristics of the SF-24, and this could play in McLaren’s favor in the Constructors’ Championship.
The Thursday interviews, however, focused primarily on the discussion between Leclerc and Sainz in Las Vegas. After the heat of the moment, the two tried to reconcile, as confirmed by Charles’ words; the Spanish driver shared the same perspective, explaining the reasons behind the disagreement with his teammate.
Here are Sainz‘s words: “Charles and I have fought for wins and podiums, we’ve faced each other at a very high level of driving and also under a lot of pressure, something inevitable when you’re a Ferrari driver. We’ve always wanted to win, and that makes the difference. When I was at McLaren, Toro Rosso, and Renault, I wasn’t fighting for victories.”
The Spaniard then added: “For four seasons, Charles and I have shared the same space. If he was in third, I was in fourth; if he was second, I was first or third. We’ve been side by side on the starting grids, close to each other on every restart after a safety car period, and during pit-stop sequences, always next to one another. So, I find it natural that over such a long period of time, there could have been some misunderstandings.”
Regarding what happened in Las Vegas, he said: “Regarding last weekend, I don’t think either of us was happy with the overall outcome of the race. We arrived in Las Vegas believing we could do it, and there was a bit of disappointment, a frustration that grew during the race. At the same time, even though we didn’t complete our best race, we couldn’t have done better than third and fourth, so I think we can move past it. Mistakes were made, we had our internal discussions, but we did a good job turning the page.”
Sainz then specified that, if Leclerc had been fighting for the title, he would have had no problem supporting his teammate’s race. Here’s what he said about that: “If Charles had always been fighting for first place and I for eighth, there wouldn’t have been any problem, that’s for sure. But luckily for the team, we’ve always been very close, so it’s natural that there have been some discussions. But I can say that, while our professional relationship has had its ups and downs, our personal relationship has always been really, really good.”
Photo: Scuderia Ferrari
