Leclerc and Sainz collided on the third lap of the 2024 Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc criticized his Ferrari teammate, Carlos Sainz, for the intense intra-team battle during the early stages of the Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix on Sunday, expressing that he may not have been the ideal opponent for the Spaniard.
Leclerc started ahead of Sainz, with the two Ferrari cars occupying the third row of the grid at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
However, Sainz used DRS to overtake Leclerc at turn 1 on the third lap of the race, pushing the Monegasque driver towards the inside curb and causing damage to his front wing.
Leclerc understood Sainz’s motivation, considering it was his home race, but still disapproved of his teammate’s actions.
“I didn’t see the purpose of doing that, especially when it was clearly communicated before the race that we needed to save in that part of the race,” Leclerc said.
“It’s a bit unnecessary, but I also understand that it’s his home race and an important moment in his career, so I suppose he wants to do something a bit flashy. However, I may not have been the right person for that.
“We had a clear team strategy at the start of the race to save our tires and attack later.
“On that lap, Carlos didn’t save anything at turn 14 and had the opportunity to overtake at turn 1, which is a shame because it cost us time and I damaged my front wing because Carlos didn’t see that I was on the inside. That made our race more challenging.”
Despite the initial incident, Leclerc managed to recover and finish in fifth place, just four tenths behind Mercedes’ George Russell.
However, the Monegasque driver believes that his performance on Sunday was the best Ferrari could achieve this weekend.
“When we consider how close we finished behind George, there are always areas where we can improve, but today we simply didn’t have enough speed to do better,” commented.
After a point-less result in Canada due to reliability issues, regardless of Ferrari’s poor performance in Montreal, Leclerc was asked if the team had resolved all the problems with their car after introducing an extensive upgrade package for the Spanish GP.
“In Canada, it was quite evident, and I believe we will improve when we face these conditions again because we gained some understanding,” explained Leclerc.
“However, it is still too early to say here. My best guess would be that the track characteristics did not suit our car, and that is what I hope, so that we can return to our usual pace from now on.”
