Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz admitted he is in “two minds” regarding the potential risks of getting behind the wheel of a classic Formula 1 car, after what happened to his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc last week: the Monegasque driver was involved in a crash with a classic Niki Lauda 312B3 on the streets of Monte Carlo.
Charles Leclerc was invited at the Monaco Historic Grand Prix last weekend and got the opportunity to do some demo laps with Gilles Villeneuve’s Ferrari 312T and Niki Lauda’s 312B3, at the Circuit de Monaco. However, Charles Leclerc lost control of the car at La Rascasse as the Ferrari 312B3 suffered a front-left brake disc failure. This caused the pedal to go straight to the floor and the Ferrari driver was therefore unable to control the car, spinning into the barrier.
Charles Leclerc’s test of Gilles Villeneuve’s car a few weeks ago went much better, as the Italian side marked 40 years since the Canadian was killed at Zolder with a special event which was held at the Fiorano circuit.
When asked if he was looking forward to test a classic Ferrari like Charles Leclerc in the near future, Carlos Sainz confirmed he feels some uncertainty because of the big risks involved, especially now that Ferrari has a car able of challenging for race wins on-track in Formula 1:
“I had the opportunity to [test classic cars] in the past, it gives you a vision of what was the sport a long time ago. But I’m in two minds with it, because why would you risk it first, like why? You’re in the middle of a Ferrari championship-winning chance, why would you risk having this situation like happened to him [Leclerc]? And at the same time, when else are you going to have this opportunity to drive these cars? Every time I jump in a classic Formula 1 car, I have these things in my head.” – he explained.
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Carlos Sainz pointed out that his natural instinct when jumping in any Formula One car would be to push it to the very limit and not just drive it for some runs at a casual pace: “If I’m jumping in a car, I’m going to push it,” Sainz said. “I don’t know how to jump in a car and put the elbow out and drive around [casually], I have no idea how to do this. I can only jump in and feel it and feel how this car’s felt. Every time I’m going to jump in, I’m going to push a car, and then these things can happen and leaves you with the other questions. So I don’t know what to answer.” – the Spanish driver continued.
Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc admitted after the incident at the Monaco Historic Grand Prix that he felt “lucky to have it at that moment” at La Rascasse, adding that if he “had it at another place, it was no good” after being left powerless by the brake issue in Monaco.
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