Charles Leclerc – Carlos Sainz, direct comparison after 20 GPs in 2021 F1 season. Charles - Carlos, direct comparison after 20 GPs.

The recent comments by Team Principal Mattia Binotto, who spoke about a hypothetical Ferrari fighting for the world title in 2022 and underlined how the ‘first driver’ destined to try to conquer that drivers’ championship in Maranello is Charles Leclerc, have been causing a lot of discussion among Ferrari fans.

The Ferrari boss’ words certainly have a logic from a business point of view, considering that the Monegasque is – compared to his teammate Carlos Sainz – the driver in which Ferrari has invested the most. Charles Leclerc has in fact a much longer contract – expiring in 2024, compared to 2022 for the Spaniard – and has a higher salary. But, numbers in hand, is there a clear difference in performance between the two drivers?

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Looking at the first 20 GPs of this season, with two more races to go, it can certainly be underlined that Charles Leclerc has done better overall than Carlos Sainz. However, the margin between the two, both in qualifying and in the race, appears very narrow and certainly less wide than what one might have imagined at the beginning of the season, especially considering that the former McLaren is in his first year alongside the Maranello team. Charles Leclerc at the moment leads the direct comparison in qualifying by 12-8 and can boast two splendid pole positions, scored in Monte-Carlo and Baku. However, the gap between the two is minimal. In the 17 qualifying sessions in which both have set valid times (thus excluding the Saturdays of Hungary, Turkey and Russia), Charles Leclerc is ahead on average by less than a tenth.

Charles Leclerc also leads in direct comparisons regarding the 18 races completed by both drivers, with a margin of 13-5. In terms of points, however, the gap is only 6.5 lengths. This certainly depends on Charles Leclerc’s two unfortunate retirements, in his home game and in Hungary, but also on Carlos Sainz’s impressive continuity of performance. In fact, the Spaniard scored points in 18 races, taking three total podiums this season, against Charles Leclerc’s only one at Silverstone.

Certainly the #16 Monegasque driver has shown that he has a margin over his new teammate, but much smaller than what we are seeing in other top teams, such as Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren. If this can lead Ferrari to have an interesting internal competition, perhaps even for the world title, only time will tell, as we are waiting for both of them to have a car with which they can to fight at the top.