Helmut Marko claims Carlos Sainz performing ‘superior’ to Charles Leclerc in 2024

Carlos Sainz has had the upper hand on teammate Charles Leclerc since the start of the 2024 season.

Helmut Marko claims Carlos Sainz performing ‘superior’ to Charles Leclerc in 2024

Carlos Sainz (L), Helmut Marko (C), Charles Leclerc (R) (images via IMAGO).

Carlos Sainz received a massive setback before the start of 2024 when Ferrari signed Lewis Hamilton for 2025 and beyond. The Spaniard currently finds himself seatless in Formula 1 for next season. However, despite being ousted, the 29-year-old is leaving no stone unturned to showcase his racing skills. Sainz clinched the race victory at the Australian GP while outperforming Charles Leclerc.

Carlos Sainz missed out on crucial points in the championship due to appendicitis surgery during the Saudi Arabian GP. Hence, Charles Leclerc is currently ahead of Sainz in terms of points. However, the Spaniard has one-up over the Monegasque due to the race win. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko highlighted the difference between the two Ferrari drivers in terms of performance.

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Marko reckoned that behind all the performance boost for Maranello, everything was coming together for the Italian team. Ferrari hasn’t made any crucial mistakes in the 2024 season so far compared to last year. Apart from this, the 80-year-old asserted that Carlos Sainz was ‘superior’ as compared to his Monegasque counterpart.

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Behind its performance is the fact that all of these factors are coming together. He is currently superior to Leclerc, who was better than Sainz in 2023.
Helmut Marko said, as reported by OE24.at.

Carlos Sainz reveals he felt ‘quite well’ with SF-24’s performance at Suzuka

Scuderia Ferrari seemed to have eliminated fundamental issues early on this year with a show of impressive face so far. After free practice at the Japanese GP, Sainz highlighted that he felt quite well in the car. However, the FP2 session was disrupted due to unexpected rain and multiple drivers couldn’t lodge any laps.

It wasn't an ideal Friday since we lost the whole second session due to the rain but in the morning one I had found myself quite well in the car. I was looking forward to returning to the track to continue the set-up work.
Carlos Sainz said, as reported by formulapassion.it.
Carlos Sainz Feature
Carlos Sainz ( Image via IMAGO)

The entire situation was disappointing for all teams as the entire grid just had a single session left before Qualifying. Sainz pointed out a silver lining that everyone was in the same boat. Additionally, the 29-year-old highlighted that the Scuderia could get its preparation complete in FP3.

Too bad, but we are all in the same situation and in any case we will still have time in tomorrow's free practice to complete the preparation for the qualifications.
Carlos Sainz noted.

Ferrari will aim to potentially win another race this weekend. The Scuderia has posed a real threat to Max Verstappen and Red Bull this season with a rapid SF24. As such, fans would be hoping to see a good fight for the race win in Suzuka between the Scuderia and Milton Keynes.

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