Carlos and Charles
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc shared four seasons as teammates at Ferrari, with ups and downs. Their relationship had heated rivalries on the track, exploded in team radios, but between the two the relationship remained basically good.
Memorable was the “stop inventing” said via radio by an annoyed Sainz to the Ferrari pit wall at Silverstone 2022.
More direct episodes between the Spaniard and Leclerc were those at Monza 2023, Barcelona and Las Vegas 2024, with complex duels in the absence of hierarchy.
Sainz’s comment
In recent days the discussion about driver management at Ferrari has returned, with Frederic Vasseur clearly explaining how Maranello has focused on the philosophy of “two number 1s.” At least until mathematics or an overwhelming difference in the standings force focusing on only one of the two champions.
Interesting regarding the duel between Leclerc and Hamilton at Monza was the opinion of Carlos Sainz himself on Thursday in Madrid: “When you have two competitive teammates, these kinds of situations always end up happening. It happened to me with Charles two or three times a year, we had some discussions or disagreements, but then we would call each other and resolve the issue.
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So it’s a normal thing. One day you might find yourself dissatisfied with how things were handled and, the next day, maybe you are the one benefiting from it. I don’t know how the situation is being managed now, but when I was at Ferrari with Charles, we always resolved everything between us and moved on.”
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