Prior to the Imola GP, Charles Leclerc made comments on how he was hurt after Carlos Sainz won the 2024 Australian GP and the 2023 Singapore GP. Despite being happy for the team, there was some sorrow on the personal end as Leclerc wasn’t able to extract the most out of the car. However, in Imola, the roles seem to have been reversed as the Spaniard struggled throughout the weekend.

Carlos Sainz has been the better Ferrari driver this year in most of the races, and the more consistent one. But coming to Imola with the upgraded SF-24, Sainz seemed to have lost the pace as Charles Leclerc topped both the practice sessions, qualified ahead of him, and finished the race on the podium. Sainz on the other hand dropped from P4 at the start and finished P5 behind Oscar Piastri. And now, the Spaniard has exposed Vasseur’s dark side after a far-from-ideal Imola GP. 

Speaking with F1TV after the Emilia Romagna GP, Carlos Sainz said, “Very tricky for me on the personal side. Yesterday after qualifying we saw a couple of issues with the car that was holding us back today. So far from an ideal race. Not happy because at home you want to have the strongest weekend, not the weakest of the season. And for some reason, everything aligned today to struggle a lot. We need to make sure we change it for Monaco”

When asked if the issues were related to the changes he made between the practice sessions, Carlos suggested that it’s not related to that, but rather something at the team that he cannot talk about. He said, “It’s not related to setup or anything like that. I think it’s more related to other things that obviously in F1 we cannot comment about.”

What can this issue be that Sainz is refraining from talking about? Is there a power struggle for Ferrari as well? Where the Italian team is giving preference to the driver who will stay with them for the next year? Regardless, Sainz’s teammate Leclerc has come out to explain where the Ferrari lost pace compared to McLaren and Red Bull.

Charles Leclerc Advises on Issues with Ferrari’s Energy Management on the Straights

During the qualifying laps yesterday, we saw both Ferrari drivers losing a whole load of time to McLaren and Red Bull in the first sector, the majority of which was the long straight. They seemed to be struggling at the same part during the race as well, as Leclerc had come out to explain how something weird was going on with the energy management of the power unit, as both he and Sainz lost loads of time on the straights.

After the Imola GP, Charles Leclerc explained, “Honestly, I don’t think so. We had to cover from Oscar in the first stint, no way to cover him if we did not stop for track position. Then I tried to put Lando under pressure and as I got closer they started to push. We are losing on the straights, and McLaren and Red Bull are doing something weird on the straights with energy management, and we can look at that and make changes, but I am sure, we can be strong.”

What do you think this issue is? Is this because of the new upgrade package, because of which the internals of the car had to be changed?