Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz surged to his second consecutive Formula 1 pole position earlier today at the Marina Bay street circuit, while the Maranello team seemed poised to dominate the front row. However, Mercedes’ George Russell disrupted their plans, splitting the Ferrari duo and pushing the Monegasque into third place for Sunday’s race.
This sequence of events followed a captivating duel between Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc for the third position at the Italian Grand Prix. Carlos Sainz adeptly handled the immense pressure from his younger teammate to secure his first podium finish of the year.
When asked by the Motorsport website whether they would engage in a similar battle if a potential victory was at stake or if they would accept team orders, both drivers acknowledged their readiness to adhere to the team’s instructions to ensure victory. The Spaniard also noted that a similar contest would be unlikely at the Marina Bay circuit due to its tighter layout and emphasis on traction.
“First of all, I’m sure that the characteristics of the track is not that it allows to have the nice battles and great wheel-to-wheel racing that we had in Monza, which again was a lot of fun and a great battle, This track is very, very different. And of course, we will be looking into tomorrow to see everything that we can do to beat the Mercedes to get the cars into 1-2. I’m sure that the team will prioritise the overall team result and try to get the win.” – Carlos Sainz pointed out after the qualifying session for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc shared the same sentiment as his Maranello teammate, but he dropped a subtle suggestion that, should the Ferrari pair find themselves significantly ahead of the competition, he would prefer the team to grant them the opportunity to determine the outcome amongst themselves. He anticipates that team directives might be necessary if Ferrari is pushed into a defensive position by a rival team, specifically highlighting Mercedes as their primary contender.
“I agree [with Sainz]. I think in Monza it’s the track is helping also those fights. But I believe the philosophy will be the same if we are under pressure of Mercedes, then I’m pretty sure that the positions will be fixed. If we have all the other cars quite far behind, which I hope it will be the case, then let’s see what the team chooses. But at the end, we’ll follow whatever we have been told.” – Charles Leclerc explained.
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