Former Ferrari sporting director gives verdict on Charles Leclerc – Carlos Sainz line-up. Cesare Fiorio on Ferrari's 2021 line-up.

Scuderia Ferrari has started the 2021 Formula 1 season in a promising way, with four finishes in the points out of as many available. The Scuderia from Maranello is fourth in the constructors’ standings seven points behind McLaren while Charles Leclerc came close to scoring a podium finish at Imola, which at half-race certainly seemed possible thanks to the Monegasque’s ability to drive in wet conditions, after a scary moment in the formation lap, when he spun at Acque Minerali and managed to restart. A twist that to long-time fans, especially Ferrari fans, certainly reminded of Alain Prost’s moment at Rivazza with consequent retirement in the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix when the Professor lost control of the car during the warm-up lap.

Speaking of Alain Prost and Ferrari, in the third episode of the formulapassion.it podcast ‘Contact’, the then sporting director of the Maranello team Cesare Fiorio offered his point of view on the new driver line-up under the orders of Mattia Binotto, formed by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Cesare Fiorio underlined that the Spaniard in the race is already at the level of the Monegasque, who in the eyes of Fiorio should not yet be compared with Fernando Alonso, the driver launched by Cesare Fiorio at the time of Minardi:

“Ferrari has certainly progressed compared to last year even if it has not eliminated all the gap that separates it from Mercedes and Red Bull – was the analysis made by Cesare Fiorio – In my opinion Carlos Sainz is very strong and in the race he is already strong like Charles Leclerc, in qualifying he still makes some mistakes, probably because he doesn’t know the car well yet, but he is certainly a driver who is a guarantee. The driver duo is very strong, I hope Sainz will be fast also in qualifying when he has finished adapting to Ferrari. If Leclerc is as good as a young Alonso? In my opinion Charles Leclerc is as good as Carlos Sainz, because the latter is second to none in the race. The parallel with Alonso seems a bit disproportionate to me, because Charles Leclerc despite being very strong and able to score incredible times by qualifying the car beyond its possibilities, he still makes a few mistakes. Alonso at the time committed less.” – the former Ferrari sporting director concluded.