Sainz Claps Back at Leclerc’s Complaints Post-Spanish GP Clash: Ferrari Teammates’ Tension Escalates

Carlos Sainz responds to Charles Leclerc's frequent grievances following their on-track altercation

A sense of conflict is emerging within the Ferrari team after an incident involving Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc during the initial laps of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz has responded to his Ferrari F1 teammate Charles Leclerc for expressing grievances "too frequently" following their collision during the initial phase of the Spanish Grand Prix.

In the initial laps of the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Sainz executed a bold maneuver to surpass Leclerc going into the first corner.

Leclerc expressed his irritation, communicating to his team via radio: "Sainz got too near to me!"

Replay footage revealed that Sainz didn't give Leclerc sufficient room, leading to a slight collision.

Following the race, Leclerc expressed his dissatisfaction with Sainz's strategy, indicating that they had previously made a pact to conserve their tyres.

"From the start, we had a definite plan to conserve our tyres early in the race to make a push towards the end," Leclerc explained. "Carlos opted not to conserve his tyres at Turn 14, which unexpectedly allowed him to pass me at Turn 1. It's quite disappointing since it resulted in us losing valuable time to one another."

Leclerc further elaborated that the collision caused damage to the front wing.

"My front wing suffered damage due to Carlos taking the corner and failing to notice my position on the inside, complicating our race further," he explained.

I failed to grasp the rationale behind that action, especially since it was explicitly mentioned prior to the race that conservation was essential during this segment.

"It might seem somewhat superfluous, yet I comprehend it's his local race and a significant milestone in his career, so it makes sense he aimed for something quite remarkable. However, I likely wasn't the ideal candidate for that interaction."

Nonetheless, Sainz appeared indifferent to Leclerc's most recent grievances.

Sainz believed he was aggressively pursuing the race, actively engaging in offensive maneuvers.

"Sainz expressed to Sky Sports that he frequently voices his grievances following a race. He noted that the individual is likely agitated and believes that… given the current stage of the season… it's uncertain."

"I initiated an aggressive strategy. Our team opted for fresh soft tyres, while Mercedes went with previously used ones, giving us a window to be aggressive early on, exactly as we had planned before the race. I managed to overtake Charles, possibly because he either made an error or was being overly cautious. I almost managed to get ahead of Lewis through an undercut strategy, and I was close to overtaking Russell during a pit stop.

"I was experimenting with my approach as a driver out there. He chose to adopt a more strategic management of the race, and ultimately, it proved beneficial for him since he managed to outpace me towards the end with a soft-medium-soft strategy. On my part, I decided to take a more aggressive stance with a soft-medium-hard strategy, but it didn't work out in my favor. In retrospect, George and I, on hard tires, didn't have the speed, whereas those on soft tires were significantly faster."

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