F1 News
Sainz "disappointed" and bemused with speculation on Leclerc friendship
Carlos Sainz has hit back after some stories were made saying the friendship between himself and Charles Leclerc was forced. He said it "disappoints" him. The Spaniard will leave the Scuderia for Williams for the 2025 season, with Lewis Hamilton coming in to join the Monegasque driver in Maranello for next season.
Sainz teamed up with Leclerc in 2021, joining after a successful stint with McLaren that saw some great drives and podium finishes. Four seasons later, the Spaniard has four wins to his name, and although there have been no titles to celebrate, there have been some great performances and 1-2's shared between the two drivers.
However, away from the track, there has been some speculation that the relationship between the two drivers is different from what is seen on camera. But when asked about the relationship between himself and Leclerc at the Qatar Grand Prix to several media sources, including GPblog, the 30-year-old was quick to debunk the speculation.
Sainz will be "proud" to look back at friendship with Leclerc
"I sometimes keep seeing, on social media, that people believe it's not true and it's all PR. Honestly, it disappoints me, because people cannot sometimes understand that we have a professional relationship. And in that professional relationship, we go through ups and downs. As competitive as we are, we're always going to have some issues on track because, again, if he would be P1 and I would be P8 or vice versa, we would never have issues," Sainz started by saying.
That professional relationship was tested at the Las Vegas Grand Prix last weekend in what was a challenging weekend for Ferrari. However, Sainz prefers that it is that way: "But unfortunately, or let's say fortunately for the team, we're always at the same point on track, and we're having our little issues here and there. But then we also have a personal relationship. And as much as the professional one goes through ups and downs, the personal one, I can tell you, it's always been really, really good.
"He’s one of those guys that I know in the future when I'm not in Formula One, I'll look back and say, ‘I'm glad I met him and I'm glad I raced with him and I'm glad I can have a lot of good memories with him.’ In these four years in Ferrari, I've enjoyed every single moment with him. Even the tough ones, as much as they've been tough, I'm pretty sure in 20/30 years I'll laugh about them and look back and be proud of what we've achieved together," the Spaniard concluded.