You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. This statement holds true, especially in the world of Formula 1 as well. In fact, in this fast-moving world of F1, we see this more often and with a shorter timeline because the reputation of a driver lives and dies every race weekend. After the Singapore GP, heading into Japan, Carlos Sainz is experiencing this aspect of F1 as the scales tip, once again, in favor of Charles Leclerc. If it wasn’t clear, the fans have made it abundantly clear with their reaction to Sainz’s grave error during the start of the Japanese GP.

The Ferrari fans have often showcased their favoritism toward Leclerc. Sainz won their hearts with his win in Singapore. Although the scales did not take long to tip back in Leclerc’s favor as the Monegasque started outperforming his teammate again. The criticism toward Sainz crept up again during the weekend in Japan with his talking on and off the track. Now, with the shaky race start the Spaniard has put the final nail in the coffin.

During the start, Sainz instantly went for an overtake on his teammate and weaved around the track enough to start a chain reaction leading to the safety car. This grave error could’ve been extremely costly for the team. However, despite getting away from any on-track damage, Sainz sustained plenty off the track and on social media.

The moment that sparked criticism toward Sainz was Leclercl’s radio conversation with his engineer during the race.

Carlos Sainz picks up the head for the innocence of Charles Leclerc

After the Spaniard set off the chain reaction which brought out the safety car, Leclerc got on the radio to ask an innocent question. As highlighted by user @Vetteleclerc, Leclerc asked, “What happened at the start? Did I do anything wrong?”

Leclerc’s trackside engineer Xavi promptly replied, “We found less grip than expected but procedure was fine.”

This innocent reaction from Leclerc made the fans fume at Sainz.

One fan wanted to see the Spaniard behind bars whereas the others weren’t happy either.

There were some extreme reactions.

And some neutral.

Read More: “He Has All It Takes to Become World Champion”: Carlos Sainz New Ferrari Favorite as Error-Prone Charles Leclerc Continues to Falter

Leclerc fans were all over to support him & give logic on how Sainz’s error the chain of events.

It has been a bit of frosty on-track action between the Ferrari duo, so one fan thought it’s back to that usual routine.

However, there was one fan who put the fan favorite at fault. This fan believed it was Leclerc’s start procedure that locked up the grid behind him.

Replaying the start, who do you think was at fault, Sainz or Leclerc? Or neither of them were at fault for causing the safety car incident at the start?

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