Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz lost two positions each in the first round of the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix. The Ferrari pair were on the outside in the first corner combination after the start, so George Russell overtook them with the Mercedes, but in the first corners Nico Hülkenberg also found a way past them with the Haas.
This situation, according to Sainz, was caused by Leclerc with his overly harsh defense. Although he did not say that his teammate from Monaco had crossed a line, he was not satisfied. “I would rather not comment. But it is clear that this cost us two positions, which did not help either of us,” said the Spaniard.
“Given the way our pace was, it was impossible to do better than fifth place. It was bad for us and we lost positions in turns 1 and 2. From then on, we just tried to catch up with the others. Very early, approx. on lap 18 we had to stop for the hard tires and drive with a stop. It’s as if we’ve been driving forever on hard tires, with which you can’t make much progress.”
“At least we saved fifth place, which was the maximum we could achieve given the pace of the car over the weekend and the decisions we made. There will be tracks where we will be stronger, there will be tracks where McLaren will be,” said Sainz, adding that he is already waiting for Ferrari’s development package, which will hopefully push them forward in terms of performance.
