Charles Leclerc was furious at the end of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, making his feelings clear over the radio to engineer Bryan Bozzi after Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz ignored orders not to attack him.
Having looked on course to overcut Sainz during the final round of stops, Leclerc was passed by the Spaniard, who dully secured another podium before he leaves the Italian squad.
But was Sainz right to ignore the team, or will he regret the decision? Our writers have their say.
Sainz is within his rights to show Ferrari what it’ll be missing – Alex Kalinauckas
Remember just how savagely Sainz fought Leclerc back in the China sprint race? Or the elongated similar battle in the same setting at Austin? Well, his ruthlessness against his team-mate burst onto the GP stage in Vegas and, given it meant Leclerc got trapped for too long behind Max Verstappen, won him a 22nd F1 career podium.
In heading to Williams next year, Sainz has chosen the better short-term option in competitiveness terms over Sauber/Audi. But a Williams driver has not stood on an F1 podium since Belgium 2021 (although, in reality, Baku 2017).
He just can’t know when he’ll reach the rostrum in F1 again given his upcoming step down the grid, even if he and new team-mate Alex Albon hope Williams can continue on its upward trajectory under team boss James Vowles.
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
That alone justifies his decision to ignore Ferrari’s instructions not to attack Leclerc as the other SF-24 emerged from its second stop in the Vegas night. That enraged Leclerc, around some excellent “Maybe try in Spanish” sarcasm. Although only the order for Sainz to swap positions – which he delayed doing – ahead of their first services was played out on the world feed.
It’s not hard to read a certain amount of frustration in Sainz’s driving against Leclerc at times this year.
Ferrari picked the Monegasque as its long-term star even before signing Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes when Sainz had shown so well against such a fast and highly-rated driver. He is usually the better of the pair when understeer comes into play – such as it did in Mexico and in a different way with the cool surface temperatures in Vegas.
And until Leclerc got his act together on the hards in the Vegas race, Sainz had led the way for Ferrari – bar his slight over-doing it at the first corner and sliding deep, opening the door for his team-mate. Perhaps he thought he was restoring the event’s natural order by ignoring the team variety.
It comes with a risk that he might not be considered back at Ferrari in the coming years, as Sainz has been openly saying he’d want if the chance arrives.
But, given how things can change in short-term consideration at the Scuderia, as proved by its history with management and driver changes, Sainz brutally taking such an approach himself in 2024 might not even matter.
Sainz will be hoping he’s not burning bridges – Oleg Karpov
All things considered, I think Sainz has handled this year incredibly well. And he’s had a lot to process – not only the realisation that he’s going to be replaced by another driver but also the fact that other top teams – with vacancies too – weren’t rushing to sign him.
But he has delivered on track and hasn’t really dropped a single bad word in the media about the uncomfortable situation Ferrari has put him in. And I always felt that leaving the door open was the best way forward for the Spaniard.
Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari, 3rd position, on the podium
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Because what this year has shown is that Ferrari is probably still the best chance for him to get back into a winning car in the future. By behaving professionally and communicating correctly with the outside world, he has only increased his chances of a comeback on a day when Lewis Hamilton decides to retire.
It’s still a long way off and the world will be a very different place in a few years’ time, but Sainz’s childhood hero and good friend Fernando Alonso could be a good example of why it’s important not to burn bridges.
We don’t really know what happened in Vegas (and some of it will probably stay in Vegas forever), and it’s hard to debate without knowing the details of the pre-race discussions. But if Sainz did manage to upset the team (he certainly did annoy his team-mate by the looks of it) for the sake of getting another podium, it’s probably fair to ask whether it was worth it.
Yes, it may have been one of the last such opportunities for Sainz, but didn’t he just make his future a little more difficult?
Mercedes and Red Bull had the perfect opportunity to snatch Sainz this year. The former had a vacancy, the latter still can’t quite figure out what to do with Sergio Perez – and yet Sainz, a free agent, hasn’t turned out to be as attractive an option as you’d think. And there’s no indication that their attitude towards Sainz will change in the future.
There are those in the paddock who believe that it was an internal conflict with Verstappen and his clan during their Toro Rosso spell that ultimately prevented Sainz from making a comeback to the Red Bull family – and it’s not too difficult to believe that was one of the factors…
It looks like Leclerc will be with Ferrari for a few years longer than Hamilton. It probably won’t be him who decides who his next team-mate will be – but will Sainz still be on Ferrari’s list if there’s a bittersweet feeling left after this year?
