Carlos Sainz claims he doesn’t understand Charles Leclerc’s ‘complaints’ over close battle at Spanish GP

Carlos Sainz nearly collided with Charles Leclerc on lap 3 in an attempt to overtake the Monegasque driver.

Carlos Sainz claims he doesn’t understand Charles Leclerc’s ‘complaints’ over close battle at Spanish GP

Carlos Sainz [L[ Charles Leclerc [R] (images via IMAGO)

During the Spanish GP, Carlos Sainz nearly collided with Charles Leclerc after attempting to overtake him on lap 3. Leclerc didn’t seemed happy after the Spaniard’s move over him that could’ve caused to retire both the drivers from the race.

Carlos Sainz raised questions on the reason behind Charles Leclerc‘s unhappiness. Sainz explained that he felt it was necessary to be aggressive because he switched to soft tires which helped him going fast. The Spaniard highlighted this was an important part of his strategic decision to win the race.

Charles wasn't happy with me? For me it was clear, we had a new soft and we had to attack.
Carlos Sainz said
YouTube video

Carlos Sainz wasn’t certain about what had occurred to Leclerc at the beginning of the race. Sainz was confused on Leclerc’s complaints which were not on point he felt. However, he highlighted that he couldn’t afford to stay behind the Monegasque, the Spaniard had to push forward to win his home race.

FS Video
I don't know what happened to him in the first lap, but I couldn't stay behind him all my life. I don't know what he's complaining about this time.
Carlos Sainz stated

Fredric Vasseur claims Charles Leclerc did not lose P4 because of Carlos Sainz

During the post race interview, Fred Vasseur discussed his driver’s matter. He reckoned, Leclerc was complaining because he lost a second or half a second while fighting with Sainz. The Frenchman said there was no damage to Leclerc’s car, it was just justification to hide the main reason by Leclerc. Vasseur also mentioned, the data identified ten other instances where the 26-year-old lost a second. The collision was minor and did not caused any significant setbacks during the race.

I think he complained because he lost half second or a second at that time, rather than for damage that we didn't see from the data. But we can find ten other moments where he lost a second during the race. It was a small contact but we didn't lose anything at that stage of the race.
Fredric Vassuer explained
Charles Leclerc and Fred Vasseur
Charles Leclerc and Fred Vasseur (Via: Imago)

The 56-year-old stated, the teams strategy failed to capitalize on gains. When the race was ending, Leclerc was just one lap away from catching Russell. Even though both the drivers started at fifth and sixth both of them ended at the same position. Vasseur acknowledged, they are in a need of better performance during qualifying sessions to improve teams overall result.

With the strategy we found ourselves behind some cars and lost a few seconds, and in the end we were one lap away from catching Russell. But we started fifth and sixth and finished fifth and sixth, for me the bottom line is that we have to do a better job on Saturday.
Fredric Vassuer added

Certainly, Fredric Vasseur reckoned Carlos Sainz overtake caused no damage to Leclerc’s car, it was just Leclerc’s fault he couldn’t defend his position. Fans are hoping for a strong performance from Ferrari in the upcoming race in Austria, eager to see the team score some points as they haven’t done since Canada and only managed to secure 18 points in Barcelona.

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