Carlos Sainz teases mouth-watering Ferrari title battle with Charles Leclerc

Ferrari opted not to issue team orders at the Italian GP.
With Monza undoubtedly the Ferrari team-mates’ best and fiercest battle of this season, Carlos Sainz reckons a whole title fight between the two “wouldn’t be much different”.
A snapshot of the standings during Sainz and Charles Leclerc’s three seasons together at Ferrari shows the team-mates are very evenly matched.
While Sainz was 5.5pts ahead in 2021, 2022 saw a bigger discrepancy as the Spaniard went through a spate of crashes before bouncing back to secure a maiden win at Silverstone, and this year it’s eight points in Sainz’s favour so far.
Carlos Sainz believes Ferrari team-mate title fight would be ‘close’
They, however, have yet to fight for the big prize, the World Championship, with Ferrari woefully off the pace of the Red Bull in the new ground-effect aerodynamic era.
However, if – or when – they do get the opportunity, Sainz expects it could be a little bit like what we saw at this year’s Italian Grand Prix.
That Sunday the team-mates went into the final 10 laps with Leclerc stuck to Sainz’s rear wing and attacking his team-mate every lap. Despite coming close to crashing a few times, the team-mates kept it clean with Sainz taking third place by less than two-tenths of a second ahead of Leclerc.
“Charles and I often find ourselves close. We haven’t fought for the title, but for a third place in Monza or a pole, yes, and it wouldn’t be much different for a championship,” he said during the recent Festival dello Sport.
“We had three years to train and get to know each other, and we know the respect between us.”
He added: “We all push in the same direction. We have always believed we could win, and we never gave up. It’s this drive that makes me say Ferrari is the right place to win.”
There’s also a good relationship even away from the track with the Spaniard revealing: “We often do events and interviews together, and we laugh a lot. There is certainly a good relationship.
“When we can, we also call Lando and other drivers to play golf.”
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Ferrari have one of the strongest driver line-ups on the grid but it’s one that could end next December as 2024 marks the final season of Sainz and Leclerc’s contracts.
Although they have been linked to rival outfits, the team-mates have both expressed a desire to continue with Scuderia.
It seems team boss Fred Vasseur wants the same thing.
“I trust them a lot,” said the Frenchman. “I see them as honest and committed to the team. The important thing is to build the future together. Drivers are part of the performance.
“We have two excellent, great, and competitive drivers. We have discussed it, and they are professionals. They know where the limits are, but they have done a fantastic job so far.”
Speaking specifically about Sainz, the only non-Red Bull driver to win a Grand Prix this season with a P1 in Singapore, Vasseur applauded the 29-year-old’s willingness to work on his weaknesses.
“You can see that Carlos is a part of this environment,” he said. “He’s tenacious, and we see it in every lap he takes.
“This year, he worked hard on some things that slowed him down, and he changed his approach after Monza. In sports, talent is not enough. You need to keep improving, and Carlos has this mentality.”
Ferrari and decade-long rival Mercedes are in a fight to finish second in this year’s Constructors’ Championship with the Brackley squad 28 points ahead with five races remaining.
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