In a viral video, Charles Leclerc mocked his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz. Before the Monegasque brutally responded, “Except racing,” the Spaniard made a joke that he is better than Leclerc at golf, chess, paddle tennis, and paddle tennis.
Leclerc has a better career record than Sainz, despite the joking nature of the comment. However, in 2021, the Spaniard prevailed over the former Sauber driver. After winning two of the first three races in 2022, Charles Leclerc was the early favorite for the title, but he lost out to Max Verstappen by a significant margin.
The Monegasque, on the other hand, missed the season opener in Bahrain this time around due to a reliability issue. Instead, he finished the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP in seventh place after starting the race in 12th place due to an engine penalty. Given their reliability issues, the Scuderia team does not appear to be in form to challenge for the title right now.
In Jeddah, both drivers ran at a disappointing pace on the hard tire compound, resulting in subpar team results. On Saturday, Leclerc ran a fantastic lap in qualifying, earning the position of P2. He did, however, incur a 10-place grid penalty for installing brand-new power unit parts before the weekend.
Charles Leclerc acknowledges that Ferrari is behind the leaders.
Charles Leclerc, a Ferrari driver, has made it clear that the team must put in a lot of effort to find speed and performance in their SF-23 car from 2023.
Leclerc got off to a good start at the Saudi Arabian GP, starting in P12, and after a few laps, he was in the top ten. However, the safety car at the halfway point of the race slowed his progress and allowed Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to pass him.
Leclerc said in an interview with Sky Sports that he didn’t have much speed and was stuck behind teammate Carlos Sainz for the rest of the race. He stated,
I’m unsure whether they were out of reach. The problem is that the pace difference wasn’t big enough to make it difficult for me to get any closer than a second and a half to Carlos. When I was within DRS, I made a minor error, and when I lost it, that was it.”
“I merely remained there. So, it’s like this. Sincerely, I don’t believe the car contained much more today. We only need to work on picking up the pace.
With in excess of 20 competitions to go this year, there is still a lot of time for Ferrari to give Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz a vehicle equipped for deposing Max Verstappen and Red Bull.