Carlos Sainz has offered a dose of perspective on Ferrari’s latest intra-team drama, insisting that when two elite drivers are fighting for the same prizes, friction is not an unfortunate exception – it is practically part of the job.
Ferrari’s relationship between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton has come under increasing scrutiny, with tensions over team orders already bubbling before the pair’s latest flash point at Monza last weekend.
Hamilton has been increasingly vocal about Ferrari’s handling of his championship challenge, while the team has so far resisted putting one driver clearly ahead of the other.
Sainz, who spent four seasons alongside Leclerc at Ferrari, knows rather more than most about the delicate balancing act involved. And from his experience, disagreements between highly competitive teammates are inevitable.
‘These kinds of situations are always going to happen’
Asked about his own experience with Ferrari and how he viewed the current situation, Sainz recalled that his relationship with Leclerc also produced its share of heated moments.
"I can tell you that when you have two competitive teammates, these kinds of situations are always going to happen,” he told reporters in Madrid on Thursday.
"Me with Charles, always twice, two or three times a year, we always had a bit of a discussion or an argument, but after the race or the morning after, we would call each other and sort it out.
"It's normal when you're fighting for podiums or wins in a competitive team, and there are situations into Turn 1 or situations fighting in the race or with strategy, you always end up one day being not happy with the way it's been handled, and the next day, maybe you've been favoured. It's always the same case.
"I don't know the way it's been handled right now, but when I was there in Ferrari with Charles, we would always sort it out among each other, and we would get on with it."
It is a fairly pragmatic assessment from a driver who has experienced the precise pressure now being applied to Ferrari.
With Hamilton's title hopes fading after another difficult weekend at Monza and Leclerc also fighting to maximise every available result, every strategic call, defensive move or disputed piece of team management can quickly become another potential fault line.
Yet Sainz’s message is that such battles need not become existential.
From rivalry to resolution
The Spaniard’s account of his Ferrari partnership with Leclerc suggests that being furious on Sunday does not necessarily mean remaining furious on Monday. Two drivers can argue over who was right, defend their own interests and still climb back into the same garage for the next race.
That experience may offer Ferrari a useful template as Hamilton and Leclerc navigate their increasingly complicated partnership.
Queried on the same topic in the press conference, Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton’s former Mercedes teammate, offered his own personal glimpse behind the curtain when asked how conflicts were handled during their time together.
"Every team obviously operates differently. You have different rules, but around that time, it was very clear that you need to race fair and clean;” he said.
"There are certain rules in certain situations, which I don't want to go into detail about; you can use your imagination. But it's just how the sport works, and sometimes you get it better, sometimes you get it worse."
Read also:
Hamilton sends Ferrari fans clear message: ‘I don’t race dirty’For Ferrari, that may be the uncomfortable reality. Two drivers of Hamilton and Leclerc’s calibre are never going to agree on every call, every corner or every strategic decision across a 24-race season.
The real test is not whether the arguments happen. It is whether, like Sainz and Leclerc before them, the protagonists can eventually close the door, settle the score and get on with racing.
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