3 hours Ago By Michelle
Charles Leclerc has warned Carlos Sainz the gloves are off in their final two races as Ferrari team-mates as he’ll be “thinking about myself only”. Leclerc was furious with Sainz at the Las Vegas Grand Prix where the Spaniard seemed to ignore team orders and attacked Leclerc for third place, taking three points away from the Monegasque driver’s fight to beat Lando Norris to second place in the Drivers’ standings. Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock Emerging from his second pit stop of the night, Leclerc was told by his race engineer Bryan Bozzi: “Carlos has been told to not overtake but it is really close, you might be just in front.
” Bozzi continued: “He has been told to not put you under pressure. So just take care of your tyres.” But as Sainz swooped around him to take the position, Leclerc replied: “Maybe try in Spanish.
” Leclerc finished the Grand Prix in fourth place, scoring 12 points as he reduced his deficit to Norris in the Drivers’ standings to 21 points. But it could’ve been 18. He was fuming and launched into an F-bomb riddled rant in which he decried that “being nice f**ks me all the f**king time.
It’s not even being nice, it’s just being respectful.” Leclerc insists being respectful won’t be on the cards at the next race in Qatar. 👉 Unheard Charles Leclerc X-rated radio rant after losing Las Vegas podium to Sainz 👉 Carlos Sainz claps back at Charles Leclerc in ‘using the radio’ dig “I am not happy about Carlos, but I won’t go into details,” said the eight-time Grand Prix winner.
“Why? Because we talk about these things before the race, and I’m always the only one who respects those agreements. “From now on I will be thinking about myself only. “It’s a shame that I couldn’t get more points on Norris.
” Saturday night’s 50-lap Grand Prix was a strategy nightmare for Ferrari with both Leclerc and Sainz having to yield to the other at various points. Leclerc did so first as he killed his tyres trying to attack George Russell for the lead, so made it easy for his team-mate to overtake him. Asked about that swap, he told the media, including PlanetF1.
com : “Me on Carlos? You mean me letting Carlos pass? I think I did it on the first straight and I didn’t even have the message from the team. I said it on the radio that I would do it.” Sainz later yielded to Leclerc as Lewis Hamilton closed in on the back of the Ferrari team-mates only to then ignore team orders later in the race to claim the final podium position.
It’s not the first bout of tension this season between the team-mates and it is unlikely to be the last especially in light of Leclerc’s tentative response when asked if he agreed with Sainz’s comment after qualifying that the collaboration between the team-mates is as good as ever. “Umm, yes,” was the telling response. Read next: Las Vegas GP conclusions: Verstappen unbeatable, Hamilton v Leclerc clues, Red Bull warning.
