Leclerc stings Sainz: “Carlos aggressive, we'll talk about it”

Collision on the track, anger on the radio

Charles Leclerc he was one of the absolute protagonists of the Chinese Sprint race. The Monegasque from Ferrari, who started seventh after yesterday's difficult qualifying, recovered until the end fourth place finish preceding his teammate under the checkered flag Carlos Sainz. However, it was precisely the challenge between the two reds that took center stage after the race: on the track, in fact, speaking via radio to the pit wall, Leclerc accused his teammate of defending himself too aggressivelyfighting more with him than with the drivers of other teams.

Albeit with less sharp tones, Ferrari's #16 also reported these criticisms to the journalists' microphones, speaking with Sky Sports F1. Sainz's defense of his position is under attackwhich took Leclerc off the track in turn 14. However, the '97 class took revenge on the following lap, inventing a splendid overtaking in the stretch of turns 1 and 2 which then earned him the final fourth place at the end of the Sprint.

Clarification in sight

“I expected a softer battle with Sainz – declared Leclerc – but it's true that there were also other battles in which I was a little more aggressive. I think today Carlos was aggressive and there will be a discussion, as there always is in these cases. But I'm not afraid that there will be bad air in the garage. We will talk and clarify later.”.

“When there is contact – especially in a slightly different situation, where Carlos was starting to struggle with the tire and I was better and it was very difficult to overtake because I had three cars in front of me with DRS – it's a Sin. I lost 2.5 seconds on Perez – added Leclerc – and so he ended up too far ahead to be able to recover”. The subtext is quite clear: without the duel with Sainz, Leclerc believes that the Sprint podium could have been played for.

Towards the GP on Sunday

Now, however, our gaze turns towards qualifying and, obviously, towards tomorrow's GP: “It will be very important to finish ahead of Max in qualifying – underlined Leclerc – because there is all the work I did yesterday. In SQ1 and SQ2 I found the feeling again and did a good job, but that doesn't mean it will be the same today because there is a very fine line to go the wrong way. However, I have done a lot of work and I am confident that I have made many steps forward.”.