The Smooth Operator – Carlos Sainz has been on a rampage ever since F1 returned from the summer break. His form & pace have been nothing short of spectacular. Not the trend anyone usually expects at Ferrari. Well, Charles Leclerc turned the tables back to normalcy in Suzuka. Qualifying & finishing ahead of Carlos in the Japanese GP race, Leclerc returned to form. Meanwhile, Sainz’s performance was not bad. Finishing just two places behind Charles, he seemed a tad miffed post-race.

Carlos Sainz wanted to keep his hot streak going in Japan. But Leclerc denied him that opportunity by finishing fourth. In the latter stages of the race, the Monegasque had track position & chased down the Mercedes well. While Sainz had faster tires, courtesy of pitting later, he was covering up the ground all the time. While he was stuck behind Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc was attempting to get past Russell’s W14.

It was an awesome move by Leclerc to pass George into Turns 1 & 2. However, the #55 raised concerns over how much time his teammate took to pass him. Apparently, it affected his chances partially of getting past Hamilton later in the race. When asked by Motorsport.com about his overall race, Carlos said, “I think I was four or five-tenths quicker than Lewis, closing in on him. And I don’t think that’s enough delta to pass. Just could last two laps, I was quicker.”

“But it gets to a point where if you’re not one second quicker, you’re not passing. Also, Charles took quite a long time to pass George on very worn hards for George. And it just proved to me that today it was all about track position, which is what we lost at the pit stop. We were four seconds in front of Lewis – we exit eight behind.”

Many fans seem to be bothered by how Sainz is trying to drag Leclerc into his post-race comments. After all, the #16 driver was faster the whole weekend & it reflected in the results too.

“Crying & Fingerpointing”: Tifosi slams Carlos Sainz for unnecessary Charles Leclerc mention

Fans on Twitter (now X) reacted to how Sainz has no point in mentioning Leclerc as a potential influence to his lower finish in Japan. Ferrari often gets slack for a poor strategy. Although to be fair, their strategic execution in Suzuka was fairly on point. Thus, the Spaniard had little scope to complain & yet he did. The Tifosi certainly didn’t take it kindly, citing “Carlos Sainz is a loser”

Fans often spot this trend that Sainz doesn’t take a loss to his teammate gracefully. Even earlier in this Japanese GP weekend, Twitterati called him a “liar” for covering up his struggle with the car despite having a hot streak of form.

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The debrief certainly would have made a few folks on the Maranello team stressed unnecessarily. That too, after what was a fairly well-executed race by the Scuderia, given their outright pace.

This point of the extension of the stint makes sense. Sainz himself took that call. So if he didn’t have enough time it was primarily due to this factor.

Often teammates have banter. So given this was a small incident, Charles & Carlos may not mind.

“They Made a Mistake”: Amid Carlos Sainz-Charles Leclerc Fiasco, Ferrari Shown the Mirror for Another Grave Error

After all, even Leclerc had to finish as 2nd best in Italy & Singapore, right?

Eventually, they are one of the more friendly teammates on the grid. So, one wonders if there will be any grudges kept between the Ferrari duo.

What happens on track stays on track is the eternal motto in F1. Thus, even Sainz & Leclerc will get on with business as usual going ahead. They have a task at hand to take P2 in the championship from Mercedes. If they want to achieve that, they would like to have more well-executed races like Japan & pace in the races ala Singapore.

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Still, what do you think, is there is bubbling rivalry between Carlos Sainz & Charles Leclerc?