Charles Leclerc Sets the Precedent at Ferrari F1 as Carlos Sainz Tells All on Relationship With Maranello’s Protagonist

Settling into a new team, especially Ferrari, can be a daunting task for anyone. Simply ask Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell, or maybe Ivan Capelli. In Formula 1, getting a team around you is arguably paramount to success in the sport. Carlos Sainz is now only into his second year with the Scuderia.

However, he has taken a different approach than being in a toxic fistfight with the already established number one, Charles Leclerc. According to Sainz, he’s better off learning from the Monegasque than antagonizing him.

He explained this rationale by highlighting how good Leclerc actually is. “Charles always produces extremely good laps through practice into qualifying, and this year also very good race pace.” He then went on to conclude how he could use Leclerc in his bid to excel at Ferrari. “He’s always a great reference to have in the team – a great guy to get on with, a guy that I really have learned a lot from in the past few years, and a guy who I look forward to having as a team-mate for the future, because we get on well and create a good partnership.”.

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Sainz isn’t bluffing about this either. The team from Maranello has struck gold in terms of how well their driver pairing seems to work together and for the team.

How the Carlos Sainz-Charles Leclerc bromance is more than just a Ferrari PR show

Carlos Sainz has been matching Charles Leclerc closely all season, albeit this being marred by some mistakes and general bad luck. However, he has been ready to play the team game all season long. At the 2022 French Grand Prix held at Paul Ricard, Sainz showed exactly how.

A penalty for new engine components had demoted Sainz to the back of the grid. However, he played a crucial role in allowing Leclerc to take pole for the race, after providing a slipstream to his teammate that enabled the Monegasque to take his 16th career pole position.

The Spaniard explained, “I’ve been very quick here all weekend, so I feel a sense of a bit of frustration personally, but I am happy that Charles has pole position. He will have to fight with Max at the start, but I believe he can do it – it’s all about nailing the start.”

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How will this relationship pan out in the long term is dependent on how quickly Ferrari can get their act together and become a serious title contender. In the meanwhile, Sainz likely has to continue to do all it takes to establish his stronghold in the Ferrari camp.