23 June 2024 , 17:14
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Carlos Sainz dismissed complaints from team-mate Charles Leclerc after an on-track melee at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Leclerc started the Barcelona race one place ahead of his team-mate, but it wasn't long before Sainz made his move. He used a slipstream down the start-finish straight to make the move around the outside of turn one, but the two Ferraris touched, forcing the Spaniard to use the run-off.
He made the move stick, but an inferior strategy meant he would finish back behind his team-mate. Sainz, who is leaving Ferrari at the end of the year, confirmed after the race that he had obeyed a team order to let Leclerc, who was on soft tyres while he was saddled with the hards, through in the latter stages.
Team principal Frederic Vasseur wasn't bothered about the collision and waved it away as nothing more than a racing incident. But Leclerc lamented that it caused slight damage to his car and felt it cost the team more points, as he was closing in on George Russell but just missed out on fourth place.
Leclerc said: "We discussed before the race that it was the part of the race where we both had to manage tyres as much as possible. We know how much turn 14 is to do that so I did, but apparently Carlos wasn't in the last corner and took that opportunity to overtake.
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"It's 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 [bit of] damage but everything makes a difference and when you see how close we were to George at the end, it's a shame. We'll have a discussion inside the team and I'm sure it will be fine for the next race.
"It's his home race, it's a very important moment of his career where he was, I guess, super motivated to do something spectacular. I probably wasn't the right person to do that with, but it's okay. I think he will see the image and he will understand that I was on the inside and that he couldn't turn in at that point."
Sainz went off track after colliding with Ferrari team-mate Leclerc (Formula 1 via Getty Images)Those comments were put to Sainz who came into the media pen after his team-mate. The confused expression on the Spaniard's face was enough to prove that he felt the incident wasn't worth complaining about - and then he took a swipe at the Monegasque.
Sainz said: "Too many times he complains after the race about something. I was on the attack, on a new soft while Mercedes were on a used soft, and we had to go on the attack in the first laps and try to pass them like we said even before the race.
"I passed Charles - I don't know if he made a mistake or was managing a bit too much, and then I went on and nearly passed Lewis... I was just trying out there what I have to try as a driver. He elected to manage more and in the end it paid off. I like to be aggressive and it didn't pay off, it is what it is."