After Lapo Elkann’s Santander Stunt, Carlos Sainz Tipped to Abandon Ferrari’s Ship for His Old F1 Ally

The current woes of Ferrari have already started spiraling into rumors as the blame game within the team is rising. Frederic Vasseur, who took the helm of the team this season, hasn’t been able to deliver as many expected of him. Now, with the team’s leaning bias towards Charles Leclerc for many reasons, rumors of Carlos Sainz leaving the team soon have surfaced as a result of several behind-the-scenes actions.

The rumor surfaced last weekend that the Spaniard who outscored Charles Leclerc in his debut season with the prancing horse could well be leaving for the Audi team. As reported by F1 Briefing, Carlos Sainz is at the top of the list for Audi project head Andrea Seidl.

Ferrari set to shunt Sainz?

The rumors come as part of Ferrari’s reported bias towards Charles Leclerc, as the Monaco driver outperformed his teammate last season and continues to be high on the pace. But many fans believe that the team didn’t give Sainz a fair chance in the first place and has been largely unlucky.

Another reason, and probably the most important one, comes after the now-deleted tweet of Lapo Elkann. Lapo, the brother of Ferrari boss John Elkann, tweeted out, “Santander for me terrible bank.” How does this make any difference? To give you some context, Santander is a Spanish bank that was brought on board a year after Sainz joined the Maranello-based outfit. Previously, the bank followed the footsteps of Fernando Alonso, from McLaren to Ferrari. 

READ MORE: After Worst F1 Start Since 2009, Ferrari Honcho John Elkann Steps in to Give Charles Leclerc Some Hope: “Time to Wake Us Up”

A tweet such as that hints at differences between the team and the partner, which could by extension affect Sainz’s stint with them. The deletion of it only makes things more suspicious. Can it push the driver away from Ferrari and reunite him with his former team principal?

Tensions rising between Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc?

Ferrari is a proud Italian team, which Carlos Sainz, a Spaniard, joined. Many believe that the team has always favored those close to the country, such as Leclerc himself. Hence, Lapo, a former Ferrari board member himself, backs the Monegasque unconditionally.

This becomes all the more important after the speculations of rumblings between the two drivers increased, following Leclerc expressing his disappointment over not receiving a near-impossible tow in Australia from his teammate. Former Ferrari executive Peter Windsor highlighted this. He said, “I thought it was odd that he made that public, that he was upset about that because you’ve got to live in your own world and you’ve got to be very cocooned when you’re at Ferrari.”

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The games and politics inside Ferrari are surely on the rise. Vasseur is bound to be responsible for all the happenings, as the indicators of progress are bleak.