“He Is No Pushover”: How Carlos Sainz Overcame Ferrari Driver No. 2 Tag to Defeat Charles Leclerc

The Singapore GP was an eye-opening race for many. Not because of Red Bull’s shortcomings, but mainly because of the racing mettle and intellect of Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard was brilliant throughout the weekend and converted his second pole position in a row into a win in Singapore. Sainz’s brilliant racecraft on the streets of Marina Bay made everyone stand up and take notice. In fact, after his race in Singapore, Sainz might’ve finally stepped out of the shadow of Charles Leclerc.

Carlos has been donning the Ferrari overalls for over two years now. However, the second race win of his career in Singapore in his third year with Ferrari is what has earned him much-needed respect. Sainz was always considered the no. 2 driver in Ferrari behind Leclerc. However, his performance, as discussed on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, has made him stand on his two feet. The lead Sky presenter even believes he’s no pushover and is definitely not a no. 2 driver.

“It feels to me like he’s added Saturday single-lap qualifying pace to his armory, which was his weakness. I think it’s something like 8/7 now to Charles on a Saturday but he’s no pushover, that is there! As we were talking about after the race with everybody, it’s not a 1-2 driver lineup, it’s two world-class drivers and they’re working together and driving the team forward and Ferrari executed very well and I think that would’ve been the biggest question marks. Yes, it was a lot down to the driver but overall I think they had a good weekend,” said Simon Lazenby.

Read More: Charles Leclerc Contradicts Carlos Sainz by Setting the Bar Too High Despite His Monza Failures

Lazenby’s not the only one with such praise and opinion of Sainz now. In fact, some are even considering a shift in the power dynamic at Ferrari. Regardless, there are some who always considered Sainz a more valuable driver than Leclerc and no it’s not Sainz Sr.

Qualities that make Carlos Sainz more valuable than Charles Leclerc

With the Singapore GP race, the Spaniard has showcased his racing mettle. However, for the longest time, he wasn’t ranked highly in the world of F1 despite being around the block for longer. In fact, Sainz is only now being considered on equal footing as Leclerc. However, according to the winner of the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, Richard Bradley already believed Carlos is more valuable than his teammate, especially because he’s been around longer.

“I think it’s a really interesting one because you know, the one thing with Carlos is, as I said because he’s driven with so many teams, he’s seen so many different philosophies and how so many different teams were from that side of it he’s actually very, very valuable rather than someone like, say, Charles Leclerc, who’s only been at Alfa Romeo, which is going to be Audi and Ferrari, you know, if Carlos has got a lot more visibility on how different philosophies structures work,” highlighted Bradley.

If this continues, Ferrari might want to lock the Spaniard down for longer, considering he will be entering the last year of his contract in 2024. Do you see an extension coming for Sainz?

WATCH THIS STORY | Is Carlos Sainz Looking to Move away from Ferrari?