The Las Vegas Grand Prix noticed—but once more this season—Carlos Sainz racing with out contemplating Ferrari’s finest pursuits.
Charles Leclerc can now not tolerate his dismissive conduct, particularly when the main target must be on the Constructors’ Championship.
Carlos Sainz like Didier Pironi: defying orders
The Spanish driver made headlines on Saturday in Nevada by securing a podium end. Nonetheless, post-race controversies had been removed from absent; in actual fact, they had been greater than justified given his unacceptable angle.
In the course of the race, the 29-year-old disobeyed workforce orders on two events: first, delaying a place swap with a quicker Charles Leclerc by demanding that the workforce name him into the pits as an alternative of letting him go; then overtaking Charles Leclerc as he exited the pit lane after his last cease, securing a transfer that in the end earned him the rostrum.
To be clear, Ferrari’s workforce consequence wouldn’t have modified; a 3rd and fourth place was the utmost achievable. Nonetheless, that’s not the purpose. The difficulty is that Carlos Sainz persistently ignores pre-agreed workforce methods, as famous by his teammate.
“Not following workforce orders is comprehensible; in any case, he’s already been let go by Ferrari,” one would possibly argue. But his outright disregard for the workforce is much from respectable.
Disagree with what you’re being requested? Supply a quick rationalization and make sure you’re continuing in a different way—it will actually earn you extra respect.
Given how a lot delight Carlos claims to have, why undermine Ferrari’s Constructors’ Championship battle? At that stage of the race, the precedence was to maximise the consequence for each drivers to achieve as many factors as attainable in opposition to McLaren.
To reiterate, in hindsight, Ferrari achieved the very best consequence (making the ending order between the 2 irrelevant for the workforce). Nonetheless, in the course of the race, nobody may have recognized that.
What’s undeniably important, although, is Carlos Sainz’s dismissive angle, displaying no dedication to a title that—in relation to “private delight”—ought to matter to him.
What higher solution to go away Maranello than by serving to the workforce win a championship after 16 years? What higher legacy than to be fondly remembered by the followers? For Carlos Sainz, nevertheless, it appears extra vital to boost his private document with a podium than contribute to a Constructors’ title.
Charles Leclerc has had sufficient
On the opposite aspect of the storage, Charles Leclerc is fed up, having all the time prioritized the workforce’s pursuits. At Silverstone in 2022, regardless of being in rivalry for the Drivers’ Championship (a marketing campaign that ended poorly), he swallowed the inexplicable resolution to favor Carlos Sainz’s late-race victory, even after dominating the race with a broken entrance wing. At Singapore in 2023, he intentionally gave Carlos Sainz a security hole to assist him safe Ferrari’s solely win of the season, stating after the race: “What issues is that Ferrari received.”
Now, nevertheless, he finds himself listening to that Sainz was instructed to not assault him, solely to see him overtake with ease and with out hesitation.
With solely two Grands Prix left in Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari profession, one factor is obvious from his 4 years at Maranello: he has all the time raced for his personal pursuits, displaying little respect for a workforce working in the direction of a shared aim somewhat than a slender, unrealistic ambition of being the higher driver.
Sadly for the followers, not everyone seems to be like Villeneuve or Leclerc; some are like Sainz and Pironi. And the primary to acknowledge this could doubtless be Enzo Ferrari himself, who turned his ardour into a powerful actuality and all the time emphasised: “Ferrari first, all the time earlier than the drivers.”
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