Could Barcelona Be Turning Point Between Sainz And Leclerc? Vasseur Responds
F1Tuesday, 25 June 2024 at 14:00
The team principal of the F1 team from Maranello, Frederic Vasseur, addressed whether he thinks Barcelona's squabble could affect long-term relationships between his drivers.
During the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc made contact on lap 3 in a close battle as they were going into the 1st corner side by side.
Fortunately, nothing serious happened, and both could continue in the race without significant damage to their cars (although Leclerc said his front wing was damaged).
Ultimately, the Monegasque, who got overtaken on lap 3, finished fifth, half a second behind George Russell. He didn't hesitate to attribute this half-second to the battle with Sainz, which he deemed unnecessary.
His post-race comments then received a response from the Spaniard, and it seemed the team principal would have to have a talk with them before the next race in Austria, which takes place already this week.
Speaking to the media following the tenth round of the season at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Fred Vasseur was asked whether he was worried this incident could be a turning point between his two drivers. He responded:
"No, out of the car, they have a very good relationship and good mutual trust. Now they are racers, for sure you can have this kind of case. But I know also perfectly that from this emulation we are getting a lot."
The 29-year-old Spaniard will of course be leaving Ferrari at the end of the season, so he might have less and less motivation to play the ultimate team game as the season progresses, although he said at the beginning that this won't be the case.
Vasseur believes the competitiveness between his two drivers is what moved and continues to move the team forward. He added:
"Last year, if we recover, it's also because you had this emulation between them and this competition all over the season."
"And it's not just we have the cons, sometimes what happened today, but it's not the match on the car was nothing. And it's part of the game."
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