The internal situation has changed in the Ferrari team. Carlos Sainz’s outstanding performance in his first season dressed in red has caused a change of discourse within the Scuderia . Until recently, no one in Maranello was hesitant to point to Charles Leclerc as the great bet for the future to regain the world title. Once the Madrilenian finished the Formula 1 World Championship in fifth position, ahead of his teammate, Matia Binotto moderated his words towards a more equable speech.
“In terms of drivers, as we have often said, it is the track that will dictate the judgment. The priority is always the team, but if they can compete for an important place in the World Cup, it will be the track that says who is ahead. We won’t have a number one and number two policy. We will simply discuss it based on the positions when the time comes, ”says the Ferrari boss.
Different words from those he uttered just a month earlier, when he was “completely convinced that Leclerc will become the next world champion.” At that time there were still the final two races of the year in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi , where Carlos Sainz climbed to his fourth podium of the season and confirmed the ‘sorpasso’ to the Monegasque driver. Run over by this result, Binotto has had no choice but to change his message and be more conciliatory with the Spanish.
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz confirms the rise in his status with the traditional surveys that Formula 1 conducts every year to drivers and team leaders. In both, he was voted the fourth best driver of the year, only behind Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamiton and Lando Norris . At Ferrari they no longer look at him as a squire. They know they have a candidate to close a drought that dates back to 2007, when Kimi Raikkonen was the last to reign in red.
