Carlos Sainz Jr. says if all goes well Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc will be “evenly competitive”, but Scuderia AlphaTauri F1 team principal Franz Tost is pure In terms of pace, Leclerc said he had the upper hand.
The 27-year-old Carlos Sainz Jr. underperformed Charles Leclerc in the first half of the season but gradually stepped up his game over the summer, performing on par with Leclerc in the final and taking his first F1 win at the British Grand Prix. accomplished.
But Charles Leclerc’s qualifying pace against his team-mate in the first half of the season clearly supports Franz Tost’s claims.
Having overseen Carlos Sainz Jr.’s formative years in F1 during his time at Toro Rosso, Franz Tost is well positioned to assess Sainz’s performances.
“Carlos is talented and very hardworking,” Tost told F1-Inside.
“He’s been performing very well at Ferrari and if all goes well he could be on par with Leclerc.”
“But in terms of basic speed, Leclerc is two tenths faster.”
Beyond each other’s track performances, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. enjoy a friendly relationship both on and off the track. Both drivers are very competitive, but so far their productive collaboration has benefited Scuderia Ferrari.
“Charles has always done very good laps from free practice to qualifying, and this year he has shown very good pace in the race,” said Sainz Jr.
“He’s always been a great reference for the team and a great guy who’s doing well. He’s someone I’ve really learned a lot from in the last few years and someone I’d like to keep as a teammate in the future. ”
“We get along well, we have a good partnership. We spend a lot of time together, both in Maranello and at the track, but we have very similar opinions on a lot of things.”
“Besides that, when it’s time to have fun, we can have fun and we can play sports.”
“It’s not all serious and the team also depends on our relationship. I hope it can continue like this because it makes things easier.”
Category: F1 / Alpha Tauri / Ferrari / Carlos Sainz Jr. / Charles Leclerc