Ferrari: Fred Vasseur will have to handle Leclerc – Sainz rivalry to avoid losing valuable points. Frederic Vasseur faces the challenge to guide Ferrari through the season without losing points .

Both Scuderia Ferrari and Mercedes face the challenge of managing a departing driver. Frederic Vasseur, if he is ambitious about defending second place in the Constructors’ Championship from McLaren, will have to handle the rivalry between his two drivers to avoid losing valuable points. Mercedes might be dealing with a more intense situation, but the prize at stake is less appealing.

The simplest assessment is necessary: when it comes to Ferrari, everything creates a stir. The skirmish between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the Spanish Grand Prix was a hot topic, with the media ready to pounce ever since Ferrari announced the signing of Lewis Hamilton last February.

There are broader considerations that deserve attention, particularly the support that Ferrari’s two drivers will provide in the Constructors’ Championship. Ferrari and Mercedes are in the same boat. Although the Anglo-German team saw a driver leave (the opposite of Ferrari’s situation), the final outcome seems the same.

At Mercedes, the relationship between the two drivers is more strained than at Maranello. There has always been a strong rivalry between Hamilton and Russell, despite official statements to the contrary. Even during the Barcelona weekend, there were heated radio comments from George Russell towards Hamilton at the start of Q3 (“What the hell is Lewis doing on the warm-up lap?”), with his engineer Marcus Dudley working to calm him down. George was irritated by Hamilton’s slow pace, as he was actually warming up his tires. Russell accused Lewis of ruining a set of soft tires, but the incident did not gain much traction.

Mercedes, having returned to podium contention in the last two races, sits fourth in the Constructors’ standings, but they are 86 points behind McLaren in third place. Ferrari’s situation is different, as they are currently second, but McLaren is closing in. The two teams are separated by 33 points, but Norris and Piastri have gained 35 points in the last two races.

Currently, the difference between the two teams lies in the more consistent performance of Ferrari’s drivers. Charles Leclerc is on par with Norris (with just a 2-point difference in Lando’s favor), while the gap between Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri is much larger, with the Spaniard ahead by 29 points.

To secure second place in the Constructors’ Championship (considering Red Bull is out of reach), Ferrari needs full contributions from both drivers. Otherwise, the chances of being overtaken by McLaren will increase significantly.

Managing Carlos Sainz in the second half of the season will be crucial, given the difficult situation he has been facing for four months. His scenario is very different from that of Hamilton, who decided to leave the team. While there are significant frictions, Lewis cannot complain since the choice was his.

As much as possible, Carlos Sainz should be supported and understood, even considering actions like those seen in Montmelò. Carlos is very intelligent, and the long deliberation he has been carrying out over the past months to decide his future shows that all scenarios have been considered.

Sainz could draw a winning card, as Formula 1 history has many similar cases, but it might take many seasons before he finds himself driving a car that can challenge for the podium again, and Carlos is well aware of this.

The Spaniard has fourteen more Grands Prix as a Ferrari driver and will want to capitalize as much as possible, focusing solely on his performance without strategic constraints. On the other hand, if weekends like Melbourne and Monaco arise where victory is possible, Charles Leclerc might not be willing to sacrifice himself (as he did last year in Singapore) for the Maranello team’s benefit, especially if it benefits a departing teammate.

For Frederic Vasseur, it is a challenge within a challenge to guide the team through the season without losing points and without any leverage over car number 55.

Toto Wolff is in a similar situation, but without a head-to-head battle like the one between McLaren and Ferrari, where every point will be crucial. There are other high-tension teams in the paddock, such as Alpine, probably the most intense, but their goals are different, and the spotlight is much further away than it is on Ferrari.