Ferrari walked away disappointed with their performance at the Spanish Grand Prix after both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz collided in the opening laps.
Leclerc was unhappy with the move from Sainz after they brushed wheels at Turn 1 on the fourth lap of the race, causing Sainz to run off track and keep position.
The contact caused damage to Leclerc’s front wing which compromised part of his race, and could later be seen confronting him in Parc Ferme. In media interviews with Sky Sports after the race, Leclerc remarked that he felt Sainz was trying to “do something spectacular” in front of his home crowd while Sainz said his teammate “complains too many times.”
Former F1 driver Damon Hill believed Leclerc should have backed out of the move, while Tiff Needell felt that Sainz got “out of jail free” after he exploited an event-specific rule put in place by Race Control to prevent corner cutting at Turn 1.
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Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz ‘not the best of buddies’
Speaking about the situation at Ferrari on his YouTube Q&A, journalist Peter Windsor felt team principal Frederic Vassuer should have done more to address the animosity between their two drivers.
“I’m disappointed Fred has not got on top of that, because if you decide to sack a driver like Sainz and keep him for the year and still give him a car as good as Leclerc’s, what do you think is going to happen? They’re not going to be best of buddies.
“I can’t imagine Carlos Sainz would say ‘Oh Charles drove brilliantly, I hope i didn’t take time away from his race’ or Charles to say ‘Ah, Carlos is good I don’t know why they are getting rid of him’ – of course they are going to be annoyed if everything is not perfect.”
Not the first time Ferrari drivers have clashed
The Ferrari drivers have had their fair share of clashes on track, notably during the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint when Sainz pulled off an overly defensive move on Leclerc.
The Spaniard was later forced to apologise in a Ferrari debrief according to Nico Rosberg, while Leclerc shied away from creating any internal conflict in media interviews.
When asked whether he has adapted his driving style since becoming a free agent, Sainz retaliated by saying he ‘didn’t know’ why the interviewer would pose such a question.
While the Ferrari pair have been willing to work together on track in previous seasons, that dynamic has shifted now that Sainz is trying to impress potential employers and Leclerc is looking to reaffirm his position as the team leader ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s arrival.
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