Carlos Sainz Jr, the Spanish driver for Ferrari, made a controversial move during the final stages of the China Sprint Grand Prix, according to his teammate Charles Leclerc. The two Ferrari drivers were battling for the final podium position when Sainz tried to overtake Fernando Alonso, who was struggling with performance. Sainz made his move on the outside at Turn 6, but Alonso fought back and the two cars made contact. This allowed Sergio Perez to claim third place, with Leclerc also overtaking Alonso and targeting Sainz. However, Sainz made a late braking move at the hairpin of Turn 14 and collided with Leclerc, forcing him off the track. Leclerc believes that Sainz’s aggression was excessive in this situation and hopes they can resolve the issue through discussion, as they have done in the past. Despite the incident, Leclerc managed to take the lead in the Ferrari battle on the next lap, thanks to Sainz’s mistake.
Leclerc had made two previous attempts to overtake Perez during the race and believes a third attempt could have been successful if he hadn’t lost time battling with Sainz.
“It’s unfortunate that we lost that advantage to Perez and couldn’t make the overtake,” he said.
“But that’s how things go. Fourth place could have been third, just one point. There’s always room for improvement, but now our focus is on this afternoon’s qualifying session. It hasn’t been good for me in the last two races, but I’ve been working hard and I’m confident I’ve made progress. Now it’s up to me to prove that.
“I think yesterday’s qualifying sessions were very good. I need to replicate that performance tonight, this afternoon.”
Sainz explained that he damaged his tires while trying to overtake Verstappen early in the race, which contributed to the subsequent collision with his teammate.
“Well, I think I had a good start. I was pressuring Max early on because I knew that if I could pass him, I would have a strong chance of winning the race,” said Sainz.
“That probably affected my tires, and then I had to manage them for the rest of the race.
“Until I caught up to Fernando, I made a really good move on the outside of Turn 7.
“From that point on, he decided to go all out in Turn 9, which ended up costing both of us the race. I think I picked up damage and a lot of dirt on my tires because of that optimistic move.
“After that, I was sliding with the damage and dirt on my tires, doing everything I could to defend myself. Maybe I had a moment with Charles, but if I exceeded the limit, I apologize. I was racing hard today and doing my best to stay in control out there.”
