Sainz addresses Leclerc conflict after Ferrari flare up

Carlos Sainz has detailed how he resolves conflict with Charles Leclerc after the pair clashed at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver was on the receiving end of his team-mates ire after appearing to disobey instructions to stay behind having lost track position.

The Scuderia bungled Sainz’s second pit stop when it called him in only to tell him to stay out as the team was not ready.

It cost the Spaniard, who was already in the pit lane entrance, valuable seconds as he pulled back onto the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.

As a consequence, it caused him to fall behind Leclerc, who was assured Sainz would not apply pressure. Despite that, the 30-year-old swiftly passed the Monegasque driver upon him completing his own second stop of the night.

That prompted an expletive-laden rant from Leclerc via radio upon following Sainz home to a fourth-placed finish in Nevada.

The latter acknowledged the conversations had at Ferrari in the wake of the incident, highlighting how effectively it has been able to move on from the episode.

“We’ve learned our lessons,” reflected Sainz to media including RacingNews365 ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix. “We’ve learned that there were mistakes done all round.

“We had our internal discussions and we managed to do a good job to conclude and to turn the page, which I think is always important.”

‘It always happens with us…’

Leclerc himself underlined the strength of the two drivers’ relationship when asked about the situation in the official FIA press conference. He stated that the pair has since cleared the air, something Sainz agreed with.

The future Williams driver pointed out that given the parity between them on track, it is a hurdle they are used to overcoming together.

“It always happens with us,” the four-time grand prix winner confirmed when it was put to him that it is easy for them to see eye to eye after disagreements and quickly get over issues due to how well the duo knows each other.

“We go through some misunderstandings that in the heat of the moment we obviously are quite vocal about and we feel very frustrated about.

“After a couple of days have gone by you can see everything with a bit more perspective… and give yourself a bit of time to analyse things and to conclude what happened.

“And you realise that when you talk through things, you can actually understand them and put them behind [you].

“That’s the exercise that we’ve been having to do for four years, because we’re always sharing the same piece of tarmac.

“We’re always fighting each other on track, because we’re driving the same car and we are equal on pace, and we’ve gone through this so often that we know how to talk and then move on from it.”