Charles Leclerc has denied his spat with Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz in the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix has created lingering tension between the two drivers.
Leclerc was incensed and launched into an expletive-ridden radio message post-race last weekend over an incident which saw Sainz ignore a Ferrari team instruction.
Sainz was ordered to not overtake Leclerc as the latter exited the pit lane for the second time on Lap 31, but the Spaniard opted to complete a move down into Turn 4.
Leclerc, who came home in fourth as Sainz completed the podium places in third, proceeded to express that he was the one driver who respects Ferrari’s agreements.
However, Leclerc has insisted that there is no lasting friction going into this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix to detract from Ferrari’s ambition to win the Constructors’ title.
“I don’t want to go back to what happened in Vegas,” Leclerc told media including Motorsport Week.
“I mean last two races of the season and we need to do absolutely everything in order to get that Constructors’ Championship, that’s all that matters.
“And whatever happened in Vegas, we discussed about it. We are all good which is the most important thing.
“I had no doubts about that because we’ve always had a really good relationship with Carlos and we’ve had races where sometimes things don’t go exactly the way we want.
“But the most important thing is we discuss about it and go forward and it’s very clear for both of us we want to win the Constructors and it’s by working as a team that we’ll achieve that.
“I’m sure there won’t be any problems with it.”
Leclerc certain Ferrari won’t have more problems
Leclerc expressed that he and Sainz, who will leave Ferrari once this season ends, have become accustomed to dealing with situations when there have been clashes.
“[I] have a really good relationship with Carlos. Sometimes I have overstepped the lines and sometimes he did and then it only requires discussion between us two.
“We look ourselves in the eye and we’ve known each other for a very long time now and we understand each other very, very quickly. So I have no doubts.
“Sometimes we need these kind of things to reset a little bit and I have no doubts that going into the last two races of the season there won’t be any problems or whatsoever.
“Because, at the end, it’s [a] benefit for both of us to try and win the Constructors.
“We know that an opportunity like that doesn’t happen very often and we’ve got to do absolutely everything on both of our sides in order to try and win that.”
Sainz insists Leclerc clashes are natural
Sainz concurred with his team-mate’s assessment as he highlighted that tempers boiling over are bound to transpire at points when the two tend to be close on track.
Asked whether he agreed with Leclerc’s comments, Sainz responded: “No, I fully agree. It always happens with us.
“We go through some misunderstandings that in the heat of the moment we obviously are quite vocal about and we feel very frustrated about.
“After a couple of days have gone by and you can see everything with a bit more perspective, relativise everything a bit more and give yourself a bit of time to analyse things and to conclude what happens and you realise that when you talk through things you can actually understand them and put them behind.
“That’s the exercise that we’ve been having to do for four years because we’re always sharing the same piece of tarmac and we’re always fighting each other on track because we’re driving the same car and we are equally on pace and we’ve gone through this so often that we know how to talk and then move on from it.”
READ MORE – Carlos Sainz clarifies Charles Leclerc spat at Ferrari after F1 Las Vegas GP
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