Carlos Sainz rallied from twelfth to sixth at the Styrian Grand Prix. Despite being the one who won the most positions, his teammate Charles Leclerc was chosen as the driver of the day, something that caused some outrage among the Spanish journalists who broadcast the race. The Monegasque started seventh and made a mistake on the start where he had to enter the pits after damaging his car. Although he fell to last position, Leclerc finished the race seventh behind Carlos Sainz, his Ferrari teammate.
Ferrari did well in Austria and this was confirmed by Fernando Alonso, who thus justified having been overtaken by Leclerc laps after he fell to last position. However, the Monegasque leaves much to be desired when his car does not respond to him. During the French Grand Prix, Ferrari had tire problems and Carlos Sainz finished 11th at Paul Ricard, while Leclerc did it 16th.
Carlos Sainz has finished the last two races ahead of Leclerc and four ago, when his teammate was unable to start at the Monaco Grand Prix, the Madrid-born was second and got Ferrari’s first and only podium so far this season . When it came to the Styrian Grand Prix, during the time Leclerc rolled out of the points zone, Carlos Sainz was virtually ahead of him in the standings. In other words, the Spaniard could put Ferrari in a bind in the coming races, forcing the team to decide who should be its boss.
The fight for leadership at Ferrari
Carlos Sainz already made it clear in his presentation that he prefers to leave the debate for next season: “There is one thing we must do together and that is to help Ferrari move forward together. If there is a year in which we must work together, I think this is it. Later, when a World Cup or something special is at stake, we will worry about each other ”. Mattia Binotto, meanwhile, assured that both would compete on equal terms: “ There is nothing written in the contract that says that Leclerc is the team leader , they are free to fight on the track although it is important that they give us points, but at start of the championship will have equal opportunities ”. However, the Ferrari team boss added: “Then our top priority is the constructors’ title, optimizing the points for the team and that interest can prevail, we will have to accept team decisions and only if at the end of the year one has more. options that the other will study how to help you ”.
Jacques Villeneuve has also spoken about it, who considers that Leclerc, far from seeing Carlos Sainz as an ally, should consider him as “a real danger”. “ For Charles, the real danger is Sainz . Carlos has never been in such an important team: he has built himself over time, he arrives with courage and experience, he is used to taking on fast teammates. He is cold, he studies, he can annoy Charles a lot , “he said.
Along the same lines, Jenson Button pointed out that Ferrari had made a mistake signing Sainz if what they were looking for was a driver who would settle for being in the shadow of Leclerc: “Carlos is going to do the best he can, he wants to go for him. championship. I think they have chosen the wrong person if they want to have a good atmosphere within the team, he obviously has great character and wants to win .
Carlos Sainz puts pressure on Leclerc
At the moment the relationship between the two is good, although it is clear that Carlos Sainz is pressing in his fight with Leclerc . And it is that the Madrilenian has spoken of the Grand Prix of Styria as his best race since he arrived at Ferrari . “What I’m most happy with is the pace in clean air, I managed to get down a second per lap and started riding at a more competitive pace than McLaren and very close to the leaders. Since then, the sensations with the car were incredible and at first glance it seems my most complete career since I was a Ferrari driver because of the pace and the tire management . The car was very good in the race and I am happy ”, admitted Carlos Sainz in AS .
The Spaniard took advantage of the occasion to say that, had it not been for Lewis Hamilton, he could have finished later. “ I didn’t want to do anything stupid because he is fighting for the World Cup and I don’t want to compromise his career . But I was getting impatient, because I saw that I was not going to bend Lando and that I would not be able to get close. With my team we found a way to convey to Mercedes that it would be important that they let me through , I took the DRS and passed him. But I lost 15 fundamental laps to have gotten close to Lando and put him under pressure . They wiped out the front tires and compromised the rest of the race. We cannot be disappointed to be so fast that we had to split from the second rider, ”concluded Carlos Sainz .
