Charles Leclerc has been defeated by Carlos Sainz in a fair and just manner throughout the 2024 season. Sainz, who has been the leading driver for Ferrari since the beginning of the season, has consistently achieved podium finishes in every race he has participated in. In addition, the 29-year-old broke Red Bull’s winning streak in Australia, bringing the trophy to Maranello. Sainz’s impressive performances have raised questions about the superiority of one driver over the other, which has been reflected upon.
Leclerc was already thrown under the bus prior to the start of the season when he learned that his teammate, Sainz, was set to replace him at Ferrari. This left the 29-year-old scrambling to secure his diminishing future in Formula 1.
On the other hand, this announcement may have served as motivation for Sainz, who has now outperformed his teammate in every race he has participated in. Despite Leclerc being revered for his qualifying pace, he has been outperformed by Sainz in that aspect more often than not.
As a result, Leclerc has admitted to his lack of pace compared to Sainz. The 26-year-old has acknowledged that his qualifying performance has been holding him back. This is an unusual phenomenon for Leclerc, as he has always been considered one of the best qualifiers on the current grid. However, he now has to work on improving his qualifying performance, as Sainz appears to have the upper hand in their intra-team battle.
When it comes to qualifying and even the race, Sainz seems to have an advantage over his Monegasque teammate. However, Ferrari team principal, [Name], has come to the defense of Leclerc. The Frenchman has dismissed any claims of Leclerc being “slow” compared to his former teammate.
[Name] is aware of the gap between Sainz and Leclerc, but he has defended the latter for his subpar qualifying performances. The 55-year-old firmly believes that instances of Leclerc not being on pace are rare occurrences. Furthermore, the Japanese Grand Prix weekend was an exception, as Leclerc only had a single set of tires for the Q3 run and had to be more cautious.
Despite receiving support from his team principal, it is clear that Carlos Sainz is able to extract better performance from the SF-24 compared to Charles Leclerc. As a result, all eyes in the paddock will be on the Ferrari duo to see if Leclerc can improve his performances or if he will continue to struggle.