Charles Leclerc claims Carlos Sainz didn’t follow Ferrari’s ‘agreement’ in battle at Spanish GP

Charles Leclerc was disappointed by Carlos Sainz's attempt to overtake him during the Spanish GP as the two drivers made contact during the race.

Charles Leclerc claims Carlos Sainz didn’t follow Ferrari’s ‘agreement’ in battle at Spanish GP

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz (via IMAGO)

Charles Leclerc claims Carlos Sainz didn’t follow Ferrari’s ‘agreement’ in battle at Spanish GP. During the race, Leclerc and Sainz came close to colliding on lap 3 as the Spaniard tried to overtake his teammate. Leclerc complained on team radio, that Sainz was so closed to him that they almost crashed.

Charles Leclerc felt that the race situation didn’t call for aggressive racing between him and teammate Carlos Sainz. The Monegasque was focused on racing rather than fighting for track position. Leclerc mentioned, at team briefing they discussed the importance of preserving their tires. The 26-year-old claimed, he followed this strategy but Sainz did not, which affected his own and Leclerc’s race outcome effectively.

It wasn't the moment to fight. After the briefing we agreed we had to save the tires. I did but Sainz didn't.
Charles Leclerc said
YouTube video

Further, Leclerc explained that during the overtake the Spaniard damaged his front wing and how he was disappointed by his teammate’s driving. Charles Leclerc assumed that Sainz did this act to make an impact, as it was the Spaniard’s home race and he didn’t wanted to miss out on crucial points in his career.

FS Video
He damaged my front wing. I guess he wanted to impress at his home race considering the moment in his career.
Charles Leclerc added

Charles Leclerc claims Ferrari expected better than underwhelming Spanish GP result

Charles Leclerc stated that the Barcelona race was Carlos Sainz home race. This holds a lot of significance for the Spaniard’s career to win at his home for the first time ever. It seemed like he was aiming for a standout performance which is very obvious when racing on home. Sainz wanted to create a big impression in front of his fans on the grandstand. The 26-year-old reckoned that he was not the right person for such a move.

I understand it's his home race and a very important moment in his career, so I suppose he wanted to do something spectacular, but I probably wasn't the right person for it.
Charles Leclerc explained
Charles Leclerc (via IMAGO)
Charles Leclerc (via IMAGO)

Charles Leclerc expressed disappointment with his performance, highlighting he anticipated seeing improvements during the race. He hoped the race would give some opportunities to turn the tables to his favor, but it didn’t turn out much better. The 26-year-old reckoned, he had to look into everything carefully because he was expecting a better weekend overall.

The performance? We were waiting for the race to judge if it would be a bit better during the race, but honestly, it wasn't much better. We'll have to take a look because it's a weekend where we expected better than this.
Charles Leclerc stated

Certainly, Charles Leclerc was not happy with his teammate’s approach of going ahead of him. They collided slightly, causing damage to Leclerc’s front wing. If it had been more serious, they would have had to retire from the race, similar to the situation to the Canadian GP.

In case you missed it: