Carlos Sainz has admitted that he was forced to endure insults from Charles Leclerc’s fan base during his time at Ferrari, as he gives an alternative take on the ongoing furore around his Mexico City GP clash with Lewis Hamilton.
Leclerc and Hamilton’s first-lap clash in Mexico last week left the Brit seething, as he felt it was the catalyst of the loss of a potential one-two for the Scuderia.
It led to Hamilton questioning the Monegasque’s mentality, and agreed to the theory that Leclerc races his teammates harder than he does any other driver.
Sainz has been cited as an example of that, the pair having raced for the Maranello-based squad together between 2021 and 2024.
But Sainz, speaking ahead of this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, spoke with fondness at his on-track battles with Leclerc.
“Honestly, I have relatively good memories of my time with Charles and the fights we had,” he said.
“It is true that when you’re fighting for wins, there’s always more pressure, more things on the line, so you naturally become a bit more selfish than when you are fighting in the midfield for a P8 or a P9.
“It’s more difficult to follow exactly the ideal situation that the team would like you to follow because there’s a win on the line.
“There were wins on the line back then, but I think I always respected Charles. He always respected me. We never had contact or anything like this – just had strong fights.
“I think you remember Monza, Vegas. There were plenty of hot moments during the year.”
Carlos Sainz reveals ‘hardcore’ Charles Leclerc fans ‘wishing me bad’
In the midst of the ongoing sub-plot of the season – surrounding online abuse aimed at drivers by fan bases of other drivers – Sainz’s only sour note on his time racing alongside Leclerc at Ferrari was the ‘insults’ he received as a result.
“I think what was more difficult was that the PR and the fan base were really ignited back then,” he said. “And it was very polarised between Charles and me, and I remember suffering a bit from the very hardcore fans of Charles insulting me, or wishing me bad,” said Sainz.
“Maybe some Italian media were also saying that I was not being enough of a number two when I needed to be, and vice versa when Charles had to do it.
“So it’s more the pressure surrounding Ferrari that involves Ferrari than the actual issues that I had with Charles, which were always resolved that same night when we called each other with a cooler head, and we always managed to find the solution and the way forward.”
Leclerc has been absent from media duties this weekend having arrived from Brazil late due to the birth of his first child.
Given Hamilton’s status as an honoary citizen of Brazil, Leclerc may feel pensive about facing the wrath from some sections of the crowd this weekend.
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