Imagine yourself as a racing driver in motorsports who, for the past few years, has been overshadowed by his teammate but has now started to appear better. What would you have thought at the time? A little respect for your efforts and an inclination to support you. But what if the team has already made up its mind to put up with your teammate’s tantrums to par with yours even if his performance isn’t as good as yours? The irritation that results is exactly what might have gone through Carlos Sainz’s mind. However, in order to do justice for the misfortune that befell him, the team’s prince, Charles Leclerc, has now had his rants extensively mocked, and to tolerate them Frederic Vasseur and Co. have come under harsh criticism.
When Carlos Sainz and Leclerc teamed up at the start of 2021, it was anticipated that both of the drivers would flourish in the Ferrari environment and may ultimately bring home the well-deserved trophy for Tifosi. Carlos Sainz, though, has been forced to put up with the biased nature of the squad. Despite Sainz’s repeated requests to swap positions throughout the Silverstone race, the team consequently declined to make any such shifts, choosing to treat Leclerc like a prince, rather. Not only that, but Sainz was on the point of being eliminated during qualifying itself. It was only his foresight that kept him from being eliminated. However, for that, Sainz received some mocking jabs from Leclerc, and when he complained back no one retaliated.
At the Hungarian Grand Prix, when Sainz once again was appearing to be a lot more at ease following qualifying P11, the exact same incident occurred. Although this time he opted to stay behind Leclerc, he was aware that his game wouldn’t go beyond 15 laps with the softs. Leclerc, meanwhile, fell behind Sainz after a disastrous pit stop of 9.4 seconds on lap 18. Furthermore, the Spanish driver looked considerably better from lap 18 to 43 after both the SF-23 were pushed to hard compounds.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Soon, Sainz close the gap with the Monegasques driver and it as it has been that the pilot in front would soon be prioritized. The result, though, was different since Ferrari had distinct priorities. The case that eventually occurred for Sainz was unique, according to Marca’s report, “The case of Ferrari was the opposite, Carlos was the most efficient at that time, but on lap 43, they called first Leclerc, who was two seconds behind Sainz. The motive was to compensate for the grievance for the broken gun at the previous stop, and to correct the injustice.”
It continued and read, “The Prince, as he is nicknamed in Italy, is allergic to frustration through his own or others’ fault, as was seen in the Binotto era and the one who pays is Carlos, who has an unwavering team spirit and whose complaints are of an English gentleman of the nineteenth century.” [Translated Via Google]
Following the race, Sainz voiced his opinion on Ferrari’s strategy and also opened up for the botched-up mistake at the Pits.
Following the Hungarian GP, Carlos Sainz voiced his dissatisfaction with Ferrari’s strategy favoring Charles Leclerc
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
With the time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, Charles Leclerc’s race weekend came to a dramatic conclusion. However, after the Budapest race, Sainz criticized Ferrari, expressing his displeasure with the team after they botched the pit stop and the Spanish driver claimed that in order to make up for their own error they cost him the race.
As per Soymotor Sainz chatted with DAZN and said, “There’s not much to say. Charles had a complicated stop and then it’s clear that the team has decided to change the positions of the cars, maybe to compensate or I don’t know. A shame.” [Translated Via Google]
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
WATCH THIS STORY | What has become an Incessant Problem for Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz in Ferrari’s F1 Challenger?
Despite suffering a number of setbacks do you believe the Ferrari will make a good return at the Belgian Grand Prix?