via Reuters
Formula One F1 – Belgian Grand Prix – Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium – July 30, 2023 Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. during the drivers parade ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix REUTERS/Johanna Geron
via Reuters
Formula One F1 – Belgian Grand Prix – Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium – July 30, 2023 Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. during the drivers parade ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix REUTERS/Johanna Geron
Seeing two equally great drivers as teammates in F1 is a joy to behold. Not so much for the team itself given the propensity for drama, but for the sport, this is mega. Unfortunately, Formula 1 has had No. 1 and No. 2 drivers for as long as we can look back in this sport. That being said, Carlos Sainz has decided to break that perceived order with his breakout performance of the season at the 2023 Italian Grand Prix. But has Ferrari even noticed?
The Spanish racing ace pushed his teammate, Ferrari’s golden boy, Charles Leclerc all the way to the limit at Monza. What’s more? He even prevailed in thumping fashion as he secured the final podium place to give the Tifosi in attendance their own taste of glory. But the Maranello-based team has seemingly forgotten their routine PR run, and Sainz’s triumph seems to have already been forgotten. An insider may know exactly why.
How Carlos Sainz silenced Ferrari’s favorite son
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Leclerc is the future of Ferrari, and the team has said so on many occasions. Well, the Monegasque even managed to give Sebastian Vettel the boot back in 2020. However, the outsider, Sainz has come in and in 2023 particularly started to outperform Leclerc consistently. With that, the Scuderia have been served with an unsavory reality check.
💥 Joan Villadelprat: "En Monza vimos al Carlos Sainz de poner los cojones en la mesa".
👉 "Primero, que calla algunas voces de Ferrari, que hace repensar que quizá Leclerc sea el niño bonito, pero que quizá no lo sea tanto y haya otros igual de bonitos".
👉 "Que este sambenito… pic.twitter.com/At8zYQHfzJ
— Fórmula Directa (@FormulaDirecta) September 11, 2023
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According to ex-Ferrari manager, Joan Villadelprat, “In Monza we saw Carlos Sainz putting his b**ls on the table. First, it silences some of Ferrari’s voices, which makes us rethink that perhaps Leclerc is the pretty boy, but perhaps he is not so pretty and there are others just as pretty.”
“Let this little sign that Carlos is good in the race, hard-working, head down, who doesn’t get into trouble, the one who has the spark and is magical would be Leclerc… Well, Leclerc is no longer so magical, because Carlos has shown that he can also be fast on one lap.” [translated via Google]
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But after this little stunt from Sainz where he put Leclerc in his place, team orders at Ferrari seem inevitable now.
Ferrari to internally review Carlos Sainz’s titanic charge against Charles Leclerc
Many times during that 51-lap scuffle between the Ferrari duo of Sainz and Leclerc, it threatened to boil over into a double DNF for the team. Neither driver was willing to give an inch. However, even though as a purist, team principal, Fred Vasseur enjoyed the battle, he will do well to remind his drivers about who actually is boss at the team.
On-board with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc during their epic Monza battle 👊 pic.twitter.com/qGBuJn6qnv
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 7, 2023
After the race, Sky Sports F1 quoted Vasseur as saying, “It was a great feeling. I told them no risk. The notion of no risk is always relative, but I really appreciated the last couple of laps and I hope that the fans did. As you can imagine, we’ll have the discussion after the race, but perhaps not tonight – tomorrow they are in the factory.”
Do you think Carlos Sainz now deserves to be treated on an equal footing with Charles Leclerc at Ferrari?
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