Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have held clear-the-air talks after their Las Vegas F1 drama.
Leclerc was left furious with Ferrari stablemate Sainz, who will leave the team for Williams at the end of the season, after he overtook the Monegasque driver for the final place on the podium in Vegas, despite being told to hold position – unleashing an explosive X-rated blast at his team over the radio after the race. In it, Leclerc said: “Yeah, I did my job, but being nice f***s me over all the f*****g time, all the f*****g time. It’s not even being nice, it’s just being respectful.”
However when asked about how things have been in the Scuderia since Vegas, Leclerc revealed that clear-the-air talks had taken place between the two drivers, and that they were focused on defeating McLaren in the constructors championship. Speaking to prior to the Qatar Grand Prix, Leclerc said: “I don’t want to go back to what happened in Vegas. We’ve got the last two races of the season and we have to do everything in order to get the constructors championship. That’s all that matters.
“Whatever happened in Vegas we have discussed and we are all good. That’s the most important thing, and I had no doubts about that as we’ve always had a really good relationship with Carlos. We’ve had races where sometimes things don’t got the way we want, but the most important thing is that we discuss that and move forward. It’s very clear for both of us that we both want to win the constructors, and it’s very keen we can only win that by working as a team.” When asked to clarify if he and Sainz had cleared the air since Monaco, Leclerc replied “exactly.”
Looking ahead to this weekend’s event in Qatar however, Leclerc expects a challenge. He continued: “I think it is going to be a bit more of a difficult weekend, however it’s a sprint weekend as well and if we do things right from the first few laps in FP1 it will make a big difference. On paper it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be our strongest track, but things can still turn our way and we’re super motivated to be proved wrong.
“If we compare this season to the previous years we’ve done a good job of maximising our points and minimise the loss in races where we have struggled as a team. That is a really positive thing, and in the past we were a lot more vulnerable and a lot more up and down. Now we are a lot more solid and we are going in the right direction.”