Carlos Sainz has claimed Charles Leclerc complains “too many times” amid his Ferrari team-mate’s unhappiness at their incident in the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix.
The Ferrari pair were seen holding conversations post-race over an incident on the third lap when Sainz went down Leclerc’s inside at Turn 1 and the two cars touched.
Leclerc got back ahead when he ran on the Soft in his last stint against Sainz on the Hard, but he hinted that the time lost at the start cost him against George Russell.
The Monegasque, who ended up four-tenths behind fourth place, revealed the contact gave him damage and Sainz had ignored a pre-race agreement to hold position.
“Obviously, we discussed before the race that it was the part of the race where we had to both manage the tyres as much as possible,” Leclerc explained to Sky F1.
“We know how much Turn 14 is important to do that, so I did, but apparently Carlos wasn’t in the last corner and took that opportunity to overtake, which is a shame because that put us on the back foot and it damaged my front wing for the rest of the race.
“It was a small damage, but everything makes a difference – and when you see how close we are from George at the end, it’s a shame, but it’s like this.
“We will have a discussion inside the team and I’m sure that it will be fine from the next race onwards.”
But when he was asked about Leclerc’s comments, Sainz snapped back and highlighted how he wanted to maximise the grip advantage Ferrari held on newer rubber.
The Spaniard’s aggressive approach backfired, though, as he was unable to keep Lewis Hamilton behind in the second stint and had to go onto the unfavoured Hard.
“I think it’s too many times that he complains after a race about something,” Sainz, who came home sixth in his final home race outing with Ferrari, responded.
“I think obviously he might think that…honestly, at this point of this season, I don’t know.
“I was on the attack, we were on a new Soft, Mercedes were on a used Soft.
“And we had to go on the attack in the first laps when you have a new tyre and try to pass them, like we said even before the race.
“I passed Charles because I don’t know if he did a mistake or he was just managing a bit too much, and then I went on and I nearly passed Lewis [Hamilton].
“I undercut Lewis, we nearly passed Russell at the pit stop so I think I was trying out there what I what I had to try as a driver, what is required [of] me as a driver and he elected to manage more – and in the end for him, it kind of paid because he beat me at the end on a Sof-Medium-Soft.
“For me, I elected to be aggressive, Soft-Medium-Hardand it didn’t pay off, and it’s what it is.
“I think George [Russell] and I on the hard at the end we were just too slow while the guys on Softs were very quick.”
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