The duel between the Prancing Horse riders will define supremacy in the team right from the initial races. Last year the Monegasque immediately took off, while now they are starting again on equal terms and the Spanish…
February 28th
– Milan
Every occasion is good to challenge each other. In padel, tennis or football matches, on a golf course, on skis and even at chess. Between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz the competition is continuous. If one is better with the racket, the other must be better with the ball. If one excels on the green, the other must outdo it with checkers. Only one thing is really no match: music. Because Charles plays the piano and composes original songs with flair, while Carlos doesn’t even strum. But when they lower the visor for the start of an F1 GP, everything changes. It’s no longer time for games and friendship. The rule that the teammate is every driver’s first rival also applies to the “Charlos”.
psychology
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The confrontation on the track between the Ferraristi was very close in the two seasons in which they shared the garage. The Spaniard amazed in 2021, making his debut with the Maranello team, finishing the season ahead of the Monegasque, thanks to enviable consistency and zero retirements. Last year, however, there was a certain supremacy on the part of Leclerc, who at the beginning of the season proposed himself as the sole antagonist of Max Verstappen in the title race, only to then surrender to the acceleration of Red Bull in the second part of the championship. The start of Charles, immediately winner in Bahrain and Australia, made the fans dream. And that sprint start also served as a watershed, because Leclerc found himself leading the standings and Sainz, on the contrary, ran into two withdrawals in Melbourne and Imola which cost him dearly (six in total at the end of the season). The then team principal Mattia Binotto was repeatedly reproached for not having established clear strategies at that point, favoring Leclerc. Now another World Championship begins and it starts again with the two Ferraristi still on par. New boss Frédéric Vasseur said: “Only at a certain point in the season will we bet on who has more chances to fight for the title.” Therefore Leclerc and Sainz will face the first races with maximum motivation, knowing that the results could guide the team’s choices in the following months. Leclerc is the one who has the most to lose between the two. After conquering a leading role at the expense of Sebastian Vettel, he saw an uncomfortable competitor arrive in Maranello, who was sometimes ahead of him, so he must win the duel at home if he wants the team to push him in favor of him. While Red Bull revolves only around Verstappen, beyond the ambitions of Sergio Perez. Ultimately, Leclerc has a mentally more complicated challenge ahead of him than Max, regardless of the balance of power that will be seen in Bahrain between Ferrari and Red Bull. But this is precisely the biggest test that the Monegasque is called to pass in 2023. Proving that he has finally completed the maturation process that began four years ago with the Cavallino.
quality
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Leclerc’s talent is beyond question. In terms of pure speed, he has so far proved to be superior to Sainz, although the gap between the two has always been very small. He has also grown a lot in tire management, which at the beginning was a weak point for him. Furthermore, he is capable of dueling with anyone, when the car is up to it, even Verstappen and Hamilton know something about it, beaten on various occasions. If anything, it is on the racing vision that Charles must take that decisive step forward to define himself as a “total” driver like Max and Lewis. The ability to direct the team with personality, for example when it comes to deciding a strategy in the race, must become as much a strength of Leclerc as his starting point in the qualifying lap. And precisely this kind of quality is the greatest value of his teammate. The experience of Sainz, who has a few years more than F1 behind him, in fact translates into great tactical intelligence and tranquility in difficult moments. If Carlos can also find the consistency he had in 2021 and previously with McLaren, then he could really become an “alter ego” of Charles. Also because there no longer seems to be that reluctance to get used to the behavior of the car that had penalized him at the beginning of 2022. Having two complementary ones like Leclerc and Sainz is an advantage on paper. Unless they go to war. “Ferrari’s interest comes first,” recalled Vasseur. We’ll see if the coexistence between the “Charlos” will go on smoothly or not
February 28, 2023 (change February 28, 2023 | 09:56)
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