A 21-year-old Charles Leclerc joined the iconic Ferrari with hopes of winning a World Championship with them. While he hasn’t managed to do so yet, there is seemingly a certain degree of favoritism that he enjoys over his teammate, Carlos Sainz. But the Scuderia team principal Frederic Vasseur has denied the favoritism allegations. He now seems to have gone the opposite way by treating Sainz as a benchmark for their performance.

The Monegasque has been Ferrari‘s number 1 driver since he joined. By beating Sebastian Vettel in his first year, he established himself as the top gun. But this year, for the first time since he joined the Maranello outfit, he looks rather turbulent and inconsistent. On the other hand, his Spanish teammate is much quicker and more consistent. Based on this, Vasseur has labeled Sainz as the standard for the judgment of performance.

“Charles didn’t expect a season like this, and at the start, he pushed more than he should, now he seems to have digested the situation better,” Vasseur told Italian newspaper, Gazzetta. Fred added the contrast between Charles & Carlos and how the two characters handle things differently.

He said, “Carlos is very consistent, and for this reason, he’s a good reference for us. As a character, Leclerc is impulsive. if something doesn’t go well he doesn’t hold back.” [translated via Google]

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There is no way this statement is going down well with the Monegasque, especially when he is on the verge of a contract renewal with the team. At the same time, he has said that his relationship with Carlos Sainz has always been good.

Charles Leclerc clears the air over rumors about a rift between him and Carlos Sainz

After Leclerc was favored on a couple of occasions this year despite Sainz being quicker, the latter had expressed his displeasure on the team radio. As a result, rumors of a rift between the two racers emerged. But with his recent statements in the media, he has put those rumors to rest.

Leclerc said, as quoted by Express, “With Carlos, I have a very good relationship, outside the car we know how to work together, and I can say that we also get along well because we share different interests. At the same time between us, there is also a lot of competitiveness. After all, we are in Formula 1. Personally, I love the sport because there is competition and it’s great that it’s like that”

This could be the perfect recipe for Ferrari’s turnaround – a driver pairing that likes each other and a team that knows the strength of their drivers.

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