The fifth and sixth place for the Ferraristi on the Montmelò track left consequences for the little horse’s team beyond the result. In the Spanish GP Charles Leclerc finished behind the championship leader Max Verstappen, then Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell. But ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz, who was running in front of his crowd. Perhaps for this reason, Leclerc hypothesized, he risked a maneuver that led to contact between the two Reds. «Sainz’s maneuver at that moment was not correct or right. We knew we had to save the tire and I did it, but he didn’t and he passed me at the end of the straight. That’s how it went, but it was a risk that shouldn’t have been taken”, he complained to SkySport after the race, “a fight that made us lose a position, also because it damaged my wing. I understand that the race was important for him, but that’s not how it goes. We’ll talk about it in the team.”
Sainz doesn’t blame himself for anything
The Monegasque didn’t like his teammate’s attack in the first laps of the race, who forced the overtaking and made contact. But the Spaniard has nothing to complain about: «For me the situation was clear», he replied remotely but from the same microphones, «we had a new soft, Mercedes had a used soft and we had to go on the attack. This is what I did. I don’t know what happened to Charles on the first lap, I don’t know if he made a mistake, but I had the opportunity to overtake him and it’s not like I can stay behind for the rest of my life.” The episode was also addressed by team principal Fred Vasseur, trying to downplay it: «There was a small contact between Sainz and Leclerc but we didn’t lose anything, we were fifth and sixth and we finished fifth and sixth. The bottom line is we need to do a better job on Saturday.”
