Sainz and Leclerc clash, not just on the racing circuit.
Towards the season's finale, Carlos Sainz bids adieu to the Formula-1 squad, Ferrari. His forthcoming is murky. During his native Grand Prix in Spain, things turned sour for him. He encountered multiple tricky circumstances, stirring conflicts within the team.
Following the Formula-1 Race in Spain, a spat erupted between Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The catalyst for the feud was a collision at the end of the second round, rendering contact on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
"It's too bad, since the team advised us before the race to conserve our tires at that particular juncture," Leclerc voiced angrily post-Spanish Grand Prix. "I did as instructed in the final turn, which is a prime one for that," he added, having sustained damage to his front wing in the process and ending up fifth, just behind Sainz.
"I guess it was excessive, but I get why it happened, it's his home race and a significant moment in his career. He probably aimed to deliver a spectacle," Leclerc quipped sarcastically.
Sainz retaliated angrily. "I believe he whines too much after races about trivial matters," Sainz said to Leclerc. "I overtook him because I wasn't certain if he had erred or if he was just trying to manage his race too closely."
Sainz will depart Ferrari by year-end and will be swapped by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. The Spanish driver also had an altercation with the record-breaking world champion on the track. In the initial third of the race, Sainz perceived being shoved aside by Hamilton during an overtaking move and couldn't fathom why he wasn't penalized.
"I feel all overtaking moves were tight. Aren't they supposed to be?" Hamilton retorted, who bagged a third-place finish on the podium for the first time this year. "I think the tires made contact, but it was fair. I gave him space. And it was precisely at the edge, merely a sliver of paper separating us."
