Following recent events at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, the Formula 1 community has speculated whether there are rising tensions between Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The incident in question occurred early in the race when Sainz, in an attempt to overtake, collided slightly with Leclerc.
Post-race reactions from the drivers added fuel to the speculative fire. Leclerc expressed his bewilderment over the maneuver, saying during the Sky Sports F1 broadcast:
“It’s okay. We will have a discussion, obviously. I’m sure everything will be fine. We discussed beforehand that it was the part of the race where we had to manage the tyres as much as possible.
“Carlos took that opportunity to overtake, which is a shame as that put us on the back foot and damaged my front wing. It was a small damage but everything makes a difference. When you see how close we were at the end it’s a shame.
CLAUDIA GRECO/CLAUDIA GRECO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
“He is motivated to do something spectacular but I was probably not the right person to do that with. We tried everything. I don’t think we maximised our race as a a team. We are missing pace but it is the way it is. We weren’t fast enough.”
On the opposite end, Sainz defended his actions robustly, stating during the broadcast:
“Too many times after the race he complains about something. Honestly, at this point of the season, I was on the attack.
“We were on a used soft tyre. I passed Charles… I don’t know if he made a mistake or was just managing a bit too much.
“I think I was trying to do what was required as a driver. He elected to manage more.”
In response to the growing rumors of discord, Ferrari Team Boss Fred Vasseur swiftly addressed the media to clarify the situation. Vasseur downplayed the severity of the clash between his drivers and emphasized their strong relationship off the track. He commented, as quoted by GPBlog:
“Out of the car, they have a very good relationship and a good mutual trust.”
“Now they are racers. For sure, you can have this kind of case. It’s also because you had [little] between them and this competition all over the season. Sometimes what happened today is part of the game.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.