The Las Vegas Grand Prix noticed—but once more this season—Carlos Sainz racing with out contemplating Ferrari’s finest pursuits.
Charles Leclerc can not tolerate his dismissive conduct, particularly when the main target ought to be on the Constructors’ Championship.
Carlos Sainz like Didier Pironi: defying orders
The Spanish driver made headlines on Saturday in Nevada by securing a podium end. Nevertheless, post-race controversies had been removed from absent; actually, they had been greater than justified given his unacceptable angle.
In the course of the race, the 29-year-old disobeyed crew orders on two events: first, delaying a place swap with a quicker Charles Leclerc by demanding that the crew name him into the pits as an alternative of letting him cross; then overtaking Charles Leclerc as he exited the pit lane after his last cease, securing a transfer that in the end earned him the rostrum.
To be clear, Ferrari’s crew outcome wouldn’t have modified; a 3rd and fourth place was the utmost achievable. Nevertheless, that’s not the purpose. The difficulty is that Carlos Sainz constantly ignores pre-agreed crew methods, as famous by his teammate.
“Not following crew orders is comprehensible; in spite of everything, he’s already been let go by Ferrari,” one would possibly argue. But his outright disregard for the crew is way from respectable.
Disagree with what you’re being requested? Supply a short clarification and make sure you’re continuing in another way—it will definitely earn you extra respect.
Given how a lot pleasure Carlos claims to have, why undermine Ferrari’s Constructors’ Championship combat? At that stage of the race, the precedence was to maximise the outcome for each drivers to realize as many factors as potential towards McLaren.
To reiterate, in hindsight, Ferrari achieved the very best outcome (making the ending order between the 2 irrelevant for the crew). Nevertheless, through the race, nobody might have identified that.
What’s undeniably vital, although, is Carlos Sainz’s dismissive angle, exhibiting no dedication to a title that—in the case of “private pleasure”—ought to matter to him.
What higher strategy to depart Maranello than by serving to the crew win a championship after 16 years? What higher legacy than to be fondly remembered by the followers? For Carlos Sainz, nonetheless, it appears extra necessary to boost his private file with a podium than contribute to a Constructors’ title.
Charles Leclerc has had sufficient
On the opposite facet of the storage, Charles Leclerc is fed up, having all the time prioritized the crew’s pursuits. At Silverstone in 2022, regardless of being in rivalry for the Drivers’ Championship (a marketing campaign that ended poorly), he swallowed the inexplicable determination to favor Carlos Sainz’s late-race victory, even after dominating the race with a broken entrance wing. At Singapore in 2023, he intentionally gave Carlos Sainz a security hole to assist him safe Ferrari’s solely win of the season, stating after the race: “What issues is that Ferrari received.”
Now, nonetheless, he finds himself listening to that Sainz was informed to not assault him, solely to see him overtake with ease and with out hesitation.
With solely two Grands Prix left in Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari profession, one factor is evident from his 4 years at Maranello: he has all the time raced for his personal pursuits, exhibiting little respect for a crew working in the direction of a shared aim fairly than a slim, unrealistic ambition of being the higher driver.
Sadly for the followers, not everyone seems to be like Villeneuve or Leclerc; some are like Sainz and Pironi. And the primary to acknowledge this may doubtless be Enzo Ferrari himself, who turned his ardour into a powerful actuality and all the time emphasised: “Ferrari first, all the time earlier than the drivers.”
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