Leclerc Admits Sainz Had Again 'Done Something Better'

Sunday, 07 April 2024 at 17:00

Despite great performance during the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc could only admit after the race that his teammate "has done something better."

All in all, the fourth round of the season at Suzuka Circuit was yet another positive weekend for the Scuderia Ferrari team, which maximized their opportunities with Carlos Sainz in P3 and Charles Leclerc in P4.

The Monegasque driver was the only one to pull off a one-stop race, and after starting from P8, he climbed four positions in the order.

The 26-year-old had a very decent race and did pretty much everything right. Nevertheless, he still wanted to beat his teammate, and he didn't manage to do that.

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Leclerc is now losing to Sainz 0-3 in a head-to-head battle in terms of race results. When asked whether there is something that his 29-year-old teammate changed now that he's looking for a seat, the Monegasque responded, according to @FanaticsFerrari (on Twitter):

“Carlos has always done a good job. I think in the past, one race he was better, one race I was better. Now, two races he has done something better, but I know where I need to work.”

With the strategy that he managed to pull off, Leclerc probably drove a better race than his teammate, but starting from P8 just meant that he lost too much time and couldn't really challenge for the podium if Sainz did everything right (which he did).

The 26-year-old's main mistake probably stems from qualifying, which is quite unusual for him as he is considered by many to be the quickest qualifying driver on the grid. He also told the media:

"It's very fine, like very little differences. However, I'm confident that by analysing the data, we've got a week before Shanghai, whenever I focus on something I'm quite good. I'm not too concerned, but I need to do this step forward for Shanghai."