Ferrari has been one of the most volatile teams in terms of performance, this year in particular. While Carlos Sainz became the only driver who could nab the season’s first and only non-Red Bull win at the Singapore Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc has been a hit-and-miss quite often.
Sainz has been quite impressive lately as he could defeat the reigning World Champion Max Verstappen who went undefeated for a long time.
Ralf Schumacher, former driver and brother of 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, holds some strong opinions regarding the Scuderia Ferrari drivers.
He said, “Charles wants to make a difference with all his might and then runs over his car and also makes mistakes. Sainz is more level-headed.” Ralf further added, “Leclerc is now a bit at a crossroads, I think. He has to look now because it’s no use having the eternal talent that is super fast but he doesn’t get it right in the end.”
🗣️ Ralf Schumacher: “Carlos Sainz has been the clear number 1 for Ferrari in 2023.”
👉 “Leclerc has to make him look at it, because it’s no use having eternal talent. He’s very fast, but, in the end, he doesn’t do it well.”
👉 “Charles wants to make a difference with all his… pic.twitter.com/0Dig595ZZh
— Patrick (@RacingStorki) October 4, 2023
Schumacher did not dismiss the idea of Sainz being the better driver of the Prancing Horse team. As per the recent developments in the sport, the Spaniard has been carrying the team while Leclerc has his fair share of good days.
At the recent race during the Qatar Grand Prix, somehow made it to the P5 spot, while teammate Carlos Sainz did not participate in the race.
Charles Leclerc believes Qatar GP was the hardest of his career
After the steamy race at the Singapore Grand Prix, the race at the Lusail track posed a new struggle altogether for the drivers. The relentless humidity coupled with the high-speed characteristics took a toll on the drivers.
On top of that, there was the mandated tired usage encouraged extreme and fierce racing. It was so bad that the infamous driver of the Williams team, Logan Sargeant had to pull out midway through the race due to dehydration.
It was close between Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc on lap 1 😳
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) October 7, 2023
The race at Qatar comprised a whole of 57 laps and the harsh conditions made it difficult for Charles Leclerc to stick to the race. He said, “It was the hardest race of our careers, for every single driver. The heat? I think there were definitely lots of things that added up. Second – we’ve got a lot of high-speed corners. The third – which I think is the most important thing – is adding three stops. We were all speaking about tires.”
The Monegasque driver started the race behind Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso and managed to maintain that spot.
However, the ultimate goal is to secure the P2 spot in the Constructors’ Championship after Red Bull clinched the first spot in Japan. While Leclerc holds the sixth position in the Drivers’ Standings, Carlos Sainz is ahead of him at fifth.