“I imagined Charlie & the Chocolate Factory,” Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz share their experience of visiting Maranello for the first time

“I imagined Charlie & the Chocolate Factory,” Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz share their experience of visiting Maranello for the first time

The Ferrari HQ in Maranello

Maranello in Italy is paradise for a Ferrari fan as it is the home of the company and the birthplace of the Scuderia. It’s the dream of every single fan in red to visit the city at least once in their life, and so it was for young Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz, as they described their first ever experience of visiting the city. Leclerc described the first ever experience of visiting the HQ as like a kid entering a sweet shop. The Monegasque has been related to the team since 2016 when he joined the Ferrari Driving Academy, but he had the chance to visit the city years back.

At the age of 11 or 12, he had the chance to visit Maranello, but since he was with a family friend, he could not go inside the premises of the HQ. He recalls sitting in the parking lot and imagining how it would be inside; “I sat in the car park for two hours trying to guess what it was like inside. I imagined Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Oompa Loompas running around,” he told GQ Magazine. 

While Leclerc didn’t have much luck, Sainz had a completely different experience. He went there as a F1 driver who had replaced Sebastian Vettel. “A secret expedition because I was meant to wait for my contract with another team to end,” he described his visit. 

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Both Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz continue to work together 

Charles Leclerc(on the left) and Carlos Sainz(on the right)
Charles Leclerc(on the left) and Carlos Sainz(on the right)

Although both the drivers had vastly different experiences of getting into the Ferrari HQ the first time, they have been teammates since the 2021 season, and they continue to bond and work together. Leclerc got into the team in 2019, but Sainz on the other hand, got in there at a time when the team was unreliable and suffering; the 2020 season. But he believed in the team and continues to do that. 

“If on a given day I feel tired or sad, or maybe something is not quite right with me, if I’m in a bad mood and I don’t know why…sh*t, I’m a Ferrari driver, I’m in Maranello,” he shared. 

Both the drivers have been performing decently this year, and could potentially have been on the top of the table if it was not for the cars to suffer from reliability and bad strategies. The team still continues to develop and improvise to find a good finishing position. 

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