The Las Vegas Grand Prix noticed—but once more this season—Carlos Sainz racing with out contemplating Ferrari’s greatest pursuits.
Charles Leclerc can not tolerate his dismissive habits, particularly when the main focus needs to 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 perspective.
Through the race, the 29-year-old disobeyed staff orders on two events: first, delaying a place swap with a sooner Charles Leclerc by demanding that the staff name him into the pits as a substitute of letting him go; then overtaking Charles Leclerc as he exited the pit lane after his ultimate cease, securing a transfer that finally earned him the rostrum.
To be clear, Ferrari’s staff 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 constantly ignores pre-agreed staff methods, as famous by his teammate.
“Not following staff orders is comprehensible; in any case, he’s already been let go by Ferrari,” one may argue. But his outright disregard for the staff is much from respectable.
Disagree with what you’re being requested? Provide a short rationalization and make sure you’re continuing in another way—it could 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 towards McLaren.
To reiterate, in hindsight, Ferrari achieved the absolute best consequence (making the ending order between the 2 irrelevant for the staff). Nonetheless, throughout the race, nobody might have identified that.
What’s undeniably important, although, is Carlos Sainz’s dismissive perspective, exhibiting no dedication to a title that—in the case of “private delight”—ought to matter to him.
What higher technique to depart Maranello than by serving to the staff win a championship after 16 years? What higher legacy than to be fondly remembered by the followers? For Carlos Sainz, nonetheless, it appears extra necessary to boost his private document with a podium than contribute to a Constructors’ title.
Charles Leclerc has had sufficient
On the opposite facet of the storage, Charles Leclerc is fed up, having all the time prioritized the staff’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 choice 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 gained.”
Now, nonetheless, he finds himself listening to that Sainz was informed 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, exhibiting little respect for a staff working in the direction of a shared purpose quite than a slim, 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 may probably 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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