Former Ferrari F1 Driver Warns Team Against Hierarchy Between Ambitious Teammates Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz
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Formula One F1 – Pre-Season Testing – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – March 14, 2021 Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc arrive for testing REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
After an electrifying 2021 season, Scuderia Ferrari have a major task at hand going into the 2022 Formula One season – keeping rivals McLaren at bay amid potential on-track threat.
However, quite interestingly, one of the former Ferrari drivers reckoned that a McLaren threat could be the least of their problems. And the biggest obstacle could well loom be within the Maranello outfit itself. Ex-F1 driver, Ivan Capelli, opened up that the management of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz could be a huge ask for the Reds this season.
via Reuters
Formula One F1 – Steiermark Grand Prix – Red Bull Ring, Styria, Austria – June 25, 2021 Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in action during practice REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
Why you might ask? Well, despite many including Ferrari themselves suggesting Leclerc could finish well ahead of Sainz in 2021, the actual end result was quite contrasting. Sainz shocked the Tifosi by pulling out a glorious debut season with Ferrari, consequently beating Leclerc by a reasonable margin as well.
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Hence, the Monegasque will be aching to prove to everyone in the garage and at the factory that he is still deserving enough to secure his number 1 driver role.
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Ex-Ferrari driver demands equal treatment
As reported by Soy Motor, Capelli opined that Ferrari must stop prioritizing the concept of ‘hierarchy’ and rather begin to treat Leclerc and Sainz equally.
“The team must make them start on equal terms, then it will be the track that dictates the hierarchy. Ferrari must start by preparing to manage two drivers with the same ambitions, the same desire, and the same chances of winning,” he said.
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Formula One F1 – Monaco Grand Prix – Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco – May 19, 2021 Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. during a press conference ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix Pool via REUTERS/Sebastien Nogier
“We are a bit Italian who think we need a hierarchy in the team, the British have often put two stars on the track, I think of Mansell-Piquet at Williams and Senna-Prost at McLaren. So, in any case, it will be the season that creates the hierarchy.”
The only good news for Ferrari is that neither of the drivers holds any bitterness against each other. What’s more, last season witnessed many hailing Sainz and Leclerc as the best teammates the Reds have ever had.
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Hence, amid such great respect for each other, can the duo manage to deliver yet another clean season together? Or will an ugly rivalry spur out of the two this season?
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