Charles Leclerc understands that Red Bull Racing has already placed a bet on Max Verstppen, but is not yet counting on the help of Carlos Sainz, his teammate Ferrari, in the battle for the title.
Leclerc had a solid lead in the Spanish Grand Prix but retired with powertrain problems and the victory went to Verstappen, who took the lead for the first time since the start of the season. In addition, Red Bull used team tactics and at one point in the race Sergio Perez had to let Max go, although he was clearly not happy about that.
Sainz is 39 points behind Leclerc, but Ferrari has not resorted to such tricks yet. Today in Monaco, Charles was asked if it was time for the Scuderia to also decide and set priorities, but he replied as follows: “Of course I don’t make such decisions, so it is probably better to ask Mattia Binotto such questions.
Red Bull made their intentions very clear at a very early stage of the season. I don’t know our plans, I haven’t discussed it with Mattia and I’ve never heard of anything like that. I think Carlos needs a little more time to get better behind the wheel of this car and overtake us in speed.
But I don’t want to count on it. I just want to do my job well, drive our car – at least we have already proven that we can win races. And if we do everything right, I’m sure we have a great chance.
And the way they act at Red Bull doesn’t bother me because I know Carlos will catch up with us very soon. He is a very good driver, but it may be a little more difficult for him to adapt to F1-75. This car probably suits my driving style a bit more. But I have no doubt that Carlos will also be calling for high results very soon.
In any case, the success of the team depends on me and I also have to do my job well.”
At the end of last season, Leclerc and Sainz performed at about the same level, but in 2022 the difference in speed became greater. The standings of qualifying matches are 6-0 in favor of Charles and the Spaniard also lags behind his partner in the races.
If Leclerc had won the Spanish Grand Prix, and everything went like this until the 28th lap, he would not only have maintained the championship lead, but would have strengthened his lead. However, his car’s power plant failed, particularly the turbine and the MGU-H motor-generator.
Ferrari did not name the exact cause of the problems, but only assured that it had nothing to do with design flaws.
“I think the team understands what the problems are. This gives confidence that this will not happen again,” said LeClair. – How it will be in reality, I do not know. Obviously, our goal is to prevent a recurrence. Since we’ve already figured out what it’s related to, this is already a step forward and I’m sure the team can make sure that issues like this don’t happen again.
Source: F1 News
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