Carlos Sainz: “If I were Leclerc, I wouldn’t have wanted team orders” | 2023 Italian GP. Carlos on his battle with Charles.

“Let’s bring it home, please.”
Carlos Sainz spent the 51 laps of the 2023 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at Autodromo Nazionale Monza (two laps fewer due to the two extra formation laps forced by Yuki Tsunoda’s incident) defending and keeping an eye on his rearview mirrors. For the first 15 laps, the Ferrari driver saw the number #1 of Max Verstappen, who thought he had an easy job after noticing that the rear of the #55 SF-23 was sliding from the very first corners.

In reality, the straight-line speed of the Ferraris made Max Verstappen’s task much harder than expected, forcing Carlos Sainz into a lock-up at the Prima Variante. The Dutchman took advantage of this error, moving to the inside towards the Roggia, thus gaining the lead, a maneuver that allowed the world champion to extend his lead until he had a comfortable margin, which he managed to maintain despite a “minor issue” towards the end.

Carlos Sainz then had to contend with Sergio Perez, who was right behind the Spaniard until he found an opening on the inside of the straight leading to the Prima Variante. At that point, the Spaniard found himself in a battle against his teammate Charles Leclerc, who tried until the very end to get the better of Carlos Sainz. The latter also vocally requested via radio to freeze the positions, but the Ferrari pit wall allowed the drivers to race freely as long as they avoided excessive risks.

“I would have understood both decisions,” Carlos Sainz explained in the press conference regarding Ferrari‘s decision to let the drivers race freely. “If they had issued team orders, I would have understood. If I were in Charles’ position, having to fight for a podium, obviously, I wouldn’t have liked team orders. So it depends entirely on the position you are in. I don’t want to lie, in my position, I would have wanted them, but in Charles’ position, no. I think it was a borderline decision, but it was a great battle between teammates, tough, very much F1, which is also what you guys want to see. And I enjoyed living it.” – the Ferrari man concluded at the end of the Italian Grand Prix.