Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz has acknowledged that he would be open to following team orders to support his Maranello teammate Charles Leclerc, though he doubts it will come to that. Carlos Sainz has faced a difficult stretch since the season resumed, scoring only 28 points in the last four races, while Charles Leclerc has managed 58 during the same period.
These struggles have left Carlos Sainz trailing 55 points behind Charles Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship with just six races, including three Sprints, remaining. Leclerc, meanwhile, sits in third, sandwiched between McLaren’s Lando Norris and the two-time champion Max Verstappen. Despite being 86 points behind Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc still has an outside chance in the 2024 Formula 1 title fight.
While Carlos Sainz expressed his willingness to play a supportive role, he pointed out that Charles Leclerc’s significant gap to Max Verstappen makes it unlikely that Ferrari will issue any orders for him to step aside. When asked whether team orders had been discussed within Ferrari, the future Williams driver was realistic about the situation, hinting that such a scenario may not unfold given the current standings.
“No, nothing has been discussed because of the probability.” – the Spanish driver replied when asked about this topic – “I think if you look at the numbers and everything, everything is quite far and we will need to wait and see. But if the team one day asks me to do so, I’ve always been a team player and I will [do it].” – he pointed out.
Since the summer break, Charles Leclerc has secured three podium finishes, including a victory in the Italian Grand Prix at the Monza circuit in the Maranello team’s home race. Despite this, the Monegasque driver is aware that Ferrari’s SF-24 lacks the outright speed needed to challenge for the 2024 F1 championship title.
Ferrari has managed to narrow the gap to Red Bull to just 34 points, but a poor showing in the Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay street circuit due to the performance in the qualifying session has widened the distance to McLaren, now sitting at 75 points behind the Woking outfit ahead of the United States Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc recognizes that overtaking McLaren in the standings will be a difficult task, but he has emphasized the importance of Ferrari being ready to seize any opportunities that arise from their rivals’ potential errors in this final part of the 2024 Formula 1 campaign:
“I think if we keep being consistent and not having too many missed opportunities, we will do the count at the end and hopefully we’ll be enough to get the Constructors’ [title]. But on pure pace, I don’t think we are yet at the level to fight for the Constructors. I don’t see ourselves too much in the fight, but if they make mistakes then we might end up in the fight like we are now.” – Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc concluded.
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