In recent months, there have been some sparks on the track between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, which haven’t gone unnoticed by spectators. Nothing too outragious (although social media has seen some harsh criticism), just simple competition between two drivers who have a lot to prove and often find themselves side by side.
Frederic Vasseur has always appeared calm in the face of these on-track skirmishes, ready to defuse them before they escalate. The team principal emphasized this point in an interview with the Italian daily newspaper”La Repubblica”: “Nothing has been broken between Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. They’ve been more or less side by side at every Grand Prix, which is the positive and negative of having two excellent drivers at the same level. For me, it’s useful because there’s a sort of ongoing emulation on the field. They are both very competitive; every two races I have to talk to them and calm them down, but for me, this is more of a pleasure as they both care deeply about the team.”
But what about with Lewis Hamilton? All the ingredients are there for a fiery line-up, with the Monegasque wanting to beat the champion to show who the “veteran” at Ferrari is, and the Briton wanting to assert his titles and seek his eighth. But even in this context, the Frenchman was unwavering: “I never ask my drivers to be best friends or to go on vacation together; I don’t do that with my colleagues to work better. There just needs to be a straightforward relationship filled with mutual respect, and I believe that’s established between the two. I don’t see any clouds on the horizon. They’ve already started getting a bit closer in the last two months, it’s a training period like a honeymoon.” – the Ferrari team principal concluded.
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