Scuderia Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur had no doubts when asked who is first and second driver between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The Maranello boss spoke about the two drivers in an interview granted to the Spanish sports newspaper AS.
No distinction between the team’s number 16 and number 55: the Frenchman had already made this clear at the start of the 2023 Formula 1 season and it’s the same thing he reiterated for the Spanish media: his intention is to treat the two drivers equally, also because there have only been two races so far. This means that at this stage of the championship team orders are not needed, especially if you start from the same position in the standings:
“I have spent 30 years working with young drivers and in the junior categories there is no first and second driver,” he said. “They all have the same status. If you can do it in the youth categories, it also applies to Ferrari.”
Obviously, at a certain point in the 2023 Formula 1 season, the team may decide to focus more on a certain driver, as confirmed by Fred Vasseur:
“Then at some point in the season you find yourself making a decision. If Carlos is fighting with Verstappen and you have to give him a slipstream like what happened at Monza [with Charles Leclerc, ed], and they have a lot of points ahead of the others, it’s easier to make decisions. We have two drivers who can win races.”
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First driver? It will be decided during the championship
For the Ferrari team principal, it’s not a question of equality, but of common sense. “Imagine if Sergio Pérez now wins two races and Max Verstappen retires, has a gearbox failure and receives a penalty for the next race. And after Monaco, Pérez is 100 points ahead of Verstappen. These situations can happen anywhere, we must remember the season of Rosberg and Hamilton (2016).”
Having “two strong drivers” like Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz “who can score points, podiums and win races” must give the Maranello team an edge, continued Fred Vasseur. “We can go all the way with both.”
The Frenchman then spoke of the Spaniard’s difficult start in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Saturday’s qualifying hadn’t been exactly brilliant for Carlos Sainz, also due to a problematic car, which still needs to be understood. Fred Vasseur, however, is not worried: “Carlos is not lacking anything. We shouldn’t start saying if he’s missing something. He had to use another set of tires in Q2 (in Jeddah) and didn’t have the chance to fight for a joker in Q3. That’s just it.” – the Ferrari boss concluded.
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