Fred Vasseur claims Ferrari won’t follow Red Bull’s Max Verstappen model and build the team around Charles Leclerc

Both Leclerc and Sainz run out of their current contracts at the end of 2023.

Fred Vasseur claims Ferrari won’t follow Red Bull’s Max Verstappen model and build the team around Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc and Fred Vasseur (Credits: F1)

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz run out of their current contracts with Ferrari at the end of 2023. Sainz has been recently linked with Alpine, with reports suggesting that the Spaniard is not happy with the preferential treatment Leclerc is getting over him at Ferrari. Recently, Ferrari chief Fred Vasseur made the team’s position on the two drivers very clear.

Vasseur has insisted that Ferrari will not follow the Verstappen-centric approach that Red Bull has adopted. While Vasseur does have more of an inclination towards Leclerc than Sainz, the 55-year-old believes that the ‘track’ will decide who will be the preferred driver for the team.

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“Vasseur has a preference for Leclerc and is impervious to the influence of the powerful Sainz clan, but he will not leave the team keys to Charles as happened with Verstappen. He wants that when there is the winning car, it is the track that decides which of the two will have priority in the race for the world championship,” read Corriere dello Sport.

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F1 pundit claims Carlos Sainz is a ‘better leader’ than Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz (Credits: Autosport)

There has been a lot of speculation regarding Carlos Sainz’s position in Ferrari as his contract ends at the end of 2023. Sainz is reportedly unhappy being under Leclerc’s shadow at Ferrari and has been linked with a move to Alpine orchestrated by his father, Carlos Sainz Sr. But recently, F1 pundit Allard Kalff claimed that Sainz is more of a leader for Ferrari than Leclerc.

While Kalff admitted that Leclerc has the edge on pace, he praised Sainz’s straightforwardness as he believes this is one of the qualities of a good driver. He also drew on Sainz’s time with Max Verstappen in Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) in 2015, when Verstappen was truly challenged by his teammate, unlike the current scenario.

“He wants to say: that’s how I want us to do it. That’s why I think he’s more of a leader than Leclerc. He [Leclerc] can be the faster of the two, I don’t deny that.. Don’t forget: Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz were once separated, because it was a good battle between the two,” said Kalff.  

Carlos Sainz is seventh on the WDC standings, two places and seven points behind his teammate Charles Leclerc. After the summer break ends, Sainz will certainly be looking to put up a fight to consolidate his position with Ferrari.

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