Ferrari Teammates Charles Leclerc And Carlos Sainz Are Officially Feuding After Spanish Grand Prix Incident

Ferrari teammates Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc are not happy with one another after a collision at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Sainz, who is in his final season with the Formula 1 powerhouse, and Leclerc have been on tenuous terms for much of the season.

But things appear to have reached a breaking point after the two collided in turn one during Sunday’s race, causing damage to Leclerc’s car.

Sainz moved up to fifth place in his home race with the move but eventually finished in sixth, one spot behind Leclerc, as Ferrari yet again struggled for pace relative to its rivals.

The two then appeared unhappy with one another after the race.

“It’s a bit unnecessary, but I also understand that it’s his home race, and it’s also an important moment of his career, so I guess he wanted to do something a bit spectacular,” Leclerc said of the incident. “But I probably wasn’t the right person to do that with.”

The Monagasque driver also said that Sainz disobeyed team orders in making the move.

‘We had a clear strategy at the beginning of the race, with the team, to both save tyres to attack later on,” he explained. “Carlos on that lap, he didn’t do any saving in Turn 14 and of course had an opportunity to overtake in Turn 1. Which is a bit of a shame because we lost time between us, I damaged my front wing because of Carlos making the turn, not seeing that I was on the inside. And that made our race more difficult.”

Sainz, meanwhile, did not see things the same way.

“Too many times he complains after the race about something,” the Spanish driver said.

Yiiiikesss.

Ferrari Rough Patch Culminates With Sainz-Leclerc Feud

After an impressive win in Monaco, Leclerc looked like he might challenge Max Verstappen for the 2024 Formula 1 drivers championship. And Ferrari appeared it may challenge Red Bull for the constructors championship.

But a disastrous Canadian Grand Prix and troublesome outing in Spain saw Lecelrc fall to third in the point, one spot behind McLaren’s Lando Norris and 71 points behind Verstappen. Red Bull now leads the constructors championship by 60 points over Ferrari with McLaren a further 33 points behind.

Sainz, meanwhile, has yet to announce his future destination after Ferrari brought in seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton to replace him beginning in 2025.