Charles Leclerc takes aim at ‘spectacular’ Carlos Sainz for causing Ferrari damage

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. post in front of the Ferrari garage before the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc is left questioning Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz Jr.’s bold overtake at the start of the race, claiming that the Spaniard wanted to do “something spectacular” at his home race.

At the end of the second lap of the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz took advantage of an opportunity to pass teammate Charles Leclerc on the outside of Turn 1. The edgy move saw Leclerc’s front wing clip Sainz’s right rear wheel, damaging the former’s car while the latter secured track position.

Leclerc: Sainz ignored tyre management mandate

Speaking to Sky F1, Charles Leclerc stated that Ferrari “discussed before the race that it was the part of the race where we had to both manage the tyres as much as possible. We know how much Turn 14 is important to do that, so I did.

“But apparently Carlos wasn’t in that last corner and took that opportunity to overtake, which is a shame, because it put us on the back foot and damaged my front wing for the rest of the race.”

Though Leclerc admitted that the wing damage was minor, he also stated that “everything makes a difference” — especially considering the mere half-second gap separating fifth-place Leclerc from the Mercedes of George Russell in fourth place.

Ferrari’s difficult 2024 Spanish Grand Prix

 Lewis Hamilton ‘ran me off the track’ judgement leaves Sainz questioning FIA rules

 Carlos Sainz calls out Charles Leclerc for ‘complaining too many times after a race’

The 2024 Spanish Grand Prix has highlighted just how tense the situation has grown between Scuderia Ferrari’s two drivers.

In speaking to Sky, Leclerc continued his critique of Sainz’s daring early-race move by saying, “It’s obviously his home race. It’s a very important moment of his career where I guess he was super motivated to do something spectacular, but I probably wasn’t the right person to do that with.”

If Leclerc is frustrated, then so is Sainz. When told about his teammates comments on Sky, the Spaniard stated: “I think it’s too many times that he complains after a race about something.”

Sainz asserted that he passed Charles because he “didn’t know if he did a mistake or he was just managing a bit too much.” He justified his position by pointing out that the move enabled him to undercut Lewis Hamilton and pass George Russell — even if it didn’t pay off in the end.

“I was trying out there what I had to try as a driver,” he said.

Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc maintains his position in the spat.

“I think he will see the image and he will understand that I was in the inside and that he couldn’t turn in that hard on me,” Leclerc said of the early-race contact.

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