Carlos Sainz blamed team-mate Charles Leclerc that the Monegasque’s defense against him at the start of the Chinese Grand Prix cost them positions and was among the reasons Ferrari fell behind in the Shanghai race. The Spanish Scuderia driver finished fifth, his team-mate fourth in the fifth round of the 2024 world championship.
“I’d prefer not to comment, but it’s obvious and pretty clear that it (Leclerc’s defense – NB) is costing both of us positions. It didn’t help any of us,” Sainz said
“I think more than fifth place was impossible given our speed. We also had a very bad start – there was a situation in the first and second turns that cost us both two places. From there we just tried to catch up with the others. At least we saved fifth place. But in general, with the pace of the car this past weekend, the decisions made and the situation after the start, this was, in my opinion, the maximum possible,” added Sainz.
Leclerc indicated that Ferrari were not “completely satisfied” with their result in China
“There are two things we need to focus on. One is our qualifying settings and the other is our speed on hard – that was the main challenge in the race. Our strategy and performance were strong until the safety car came out. After that we were all on the same strategy. It was also a little more difficult for us to reach the required pace with hard. It will be important to solve these problems with the upcoming innovations, because this will predetermine the direction of work for the next part of the season,” added Leclerc.
The situation at the start of the Chinese Grand Prix was not the first between the Ferrari drivers during the weekend in Shanghai. After Saturday’s sprint, Leclerc said the battle between them in the short race distance was too aggressive. Sainz apologized “if he crossed the line”. Charles then stated that they had agreed and Carlos said that they had not yet spoken.
Ferrari F1 boss Frederic Vasseur commented after Sunday’s final that a better start would not have helped his drivers advance in the race
“I haven’t spoken to them. The track is quite wide in the first and second turns. There was no contact. We lost some places, which is not very good for the start of the race, but I will discuss it with them,” Vasseur said.
