Nico Rosberg hints at a possible conflict between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz following the last-lap face-off at Monza

Carlos Sainz took his first podium of the season in Monza after an intense battle with Verstappen and Leclerc.

Nico Rosberg hints at a possible conflict between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz following the last-lap face-off at Monza

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in Monza (Credits: IMAGO)

The Italian Grand Prix has been a stand-out race of the 2023 season. Carlos Sainz impressively held Max Verstappen behind him in the initial laps of the race before eventually losing to Red Bull’s next-level race pace. The race ended with a show-down between Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc for P3, with Sainz winning that clash. Post-race, F1 pundit Nico Rosberg hinted that there might be some internal conflict between Sainz and Leclerc.

Rosberg claimed that Leclerc had a good race and gave a tough fight to Sainz in the final stages of the race. The battle between the two was so heated that the two drivers almost collided in one instance. Rosberg said that this indicated some sort of tension between the Ferrari duo, even though nothing of the sort has been suggested by either of them.

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“I’m not sure what’s going on between Charles and Carlos. It’s a bit strange. Charles said he had such a nice fight, and he’ll have a beer with Carlos. I’m not sure about that. Seriously, Carlos on one of those occasions was over the limit,” Rosberg said after the race on Sky Sports.

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Carlos Sainz reflects on his cut-throat battle for the podium in Monza

Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz (Credits: FIA)

Carlos Sainz put up an extraordinary show at Monza as he claimed his first podium of the season. After defending against the ridiculous race pace of Max Verstappen’s RB-19 in the initial stages of the race, he had an epic showdown with his teammate Charles Leclerc as the duo finished P3-P4 today. Post-race, Sainz shared his thoughts on today’s remarkable victory with the team’s home fans.

With just one-tenth of a second separating the Ferrari teammates, Sainz said that despite it being one of his toughest races, he had a lot of fun out there. He appreciated Leclerc, Sergio Perez, and Verstappen for putting up a great display today as F1 fans witnessed a strong fight in the top three after quite some time.

“It was tough. It was tough, hard racing. It’s always been a pleasure to race Charles whenever we’ve had the chance. A great racer, same as Max and Checo [Perez]. We had fun out there today and I hope you guys enjoyed,” said Sainz in his post-race interview.

Today’s podium propels Carlos Sainz ahead of Leclerc onto fifth place in the WDC standings with 117 points, six clear of his teammate. He will now surely be aiming to overtake Lewis Hamilton on fourth, who currently has 164 points in the bag.

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