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

“Carlos Sainz! Tactical brilliance. Carlos Sainz – the winner of the Singapore Grand Prix!” The F1 world has not stopped hailing Carlos Sainz ever since his genius showing under the lights at Marina Bay. His rise to form has been the biggest change in F1 lately amid what was looking like a season sweep for Red Bull. Sainz managed to replicate what Gerhard Berger did at the 1988 Italian GP to break the then-dominant season of McLaren. Although to look within the Ferrari stable, the Spaniard is also making inroads to get some attention to himself over Charles Leclerc. Therefore, if the Scuderia has a championship-winning car in 6 months’ time, they have a big conundrum to answer.

Sainz has looked impeccable across the Italian & Singapore GP weekends, beating his Monegasque teammate convincingly. The highlight has been his improved single-lap qualifying pace, which was always Leclerc’s territory. To top it up, Carlos has strategic brilliance, of which he gave an elaborate demonstration in Marina Bay. So is looking to be the new Ferrari favorite? – one of the Italian team’s ambassadors seems to agree!

Has Carlos Sainz got what it takes to be Ferrari’s 1st champion since 2007?

It has been painful for the Tifosi to not have a world champion for 16 long years. Charles Leclerc was taking all the spotlight ever since he came in 2019, to bring back that championship glory to Maranello. While Carlos Sainz looked decent in his maiden year for Ferrari, Leclerc still had a stronghold until last year. He was the main man to challenge Max Verstappen (at least briefly). However, now the tables may have turned & Ferrari ambassador Marc Gene highlighted Sainz to be the go-to man.

According to Formula Passion, Gene stated, “He is very fast, he makes very few mistakes, he is very intelligent and technically he is very complete. He has all it takes to become world champion. Plus he was the only teammate who could stand up to Verstappen when they found themselves in the same team.” [translated via Google]

Gene’s comments may not have made sense this time last year. After winning his maiden race in Silverstone, Sainz again dropped behind Leclerc & seemed to be inconsistent, achieving just three podiums relative to Charles’ six. But, this season things have changed in his favor.

Leclerc seems to be prone to more errors (which he has been ever since his debut). Crashing out in qualifying in Miami & Zandvoort, Lap 1 DNF in Australia – many would argue that the 25-year-old is not lucky to end up in these situations.  Although one makes their own luck & Carlos has proved it by improving on his weakness, which is qualifying pace. Thus, Leclerc also will have to work on his error-prone edgy approach to retain the mantle of being Ferrari’s favorite.

Read More: Carlos Sainz Rubbishes Charles Leclerc’s ‘Insight’ to Share Shocking Truth About SF-23

Can Sainz be the main challenger from Maranello come 2024, given a championship-winning car? Hard to say, but he is certainly putting a strong case against Leclerc to take that honor. However, what has happened to Charles – a man who was looking to romp up Max Verstappen just 18 months ago?

Is Charles Leclerc frustrated at Ferrari?

Losing out & faltering in a championship battle as Charles Leclerc did can put any driver in the world under pressure. Whenever the Ferrari man drives his SF-23 this year, he seems to be pushing extra hard. Perhaps his flirting with the extremities of limits with his machinery is the prime reason for his error-prone driving.

Leclerc has expressed his frustration openly ever since his crash in France last season, which was arguably the decisive moment when he dropped out of title contention. He knew it was not going to happen. All his errors & crashes since then reflect that same frustration. The 5-time race winner (seems low for a man of his talent), has stated how he wants to be fighting at the front & not just for 5th or 6th.

With Carlos Sainz rising like a phoenix, Leclerc needs to figure out & rejuvenate his form too. Come 2024, there is a possibility that Ferrari could be in the mix again with Red Bull. Charles would not want to miss that. After all, it will be his chance for redemption after an embarrassing 2022.

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Still, do you think Sainz has what it takes to ahead of Leclerc for the Scuderia’s championship hopes?