Part two of our F1 team mate head-to-heads series looks at how the Ferrari drivers measure up against each other.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jnr have regularly been among the most closely-matched team mates on the grid since they first paired up at Ferrari in 2020. That remains the case in what will be their final season together before Sainz heads off to Williams.
In 2021, Sainz surprised by beating his established team mate by five-and-a-half points. Leclerc comfortably held the upper hand in 2022, when Sainz made a poor start to the season. But it was nip-and-tuck last year, Leclerc only moving ahead of his team mate when Sainz had a disastrous final weekend in Abu Dhabi.At the summer break this year, Leclerc leads by ten points and can point to Sainz’s absence from Jeddah race due to appendicitis as the difference. But Leclerc might respond by pointing out the power unit problem which ruined his race in Canada.
Though Leclerc is less decisively ahead of his team mate than George Russell is his. It serves to underline Frederic Vasseur’s point that letting Sainz go when Lewis Hamilton came calling was no easy decision, and that Williams have achieved a coup by securing his services for next season.
A key strength of Sainz’s remains his ability to stay calm during rapidly changing conditions, patiently assess the situation and not be rushed into a hasty tyre call. As the Silverstone round demonstrated, this is a trait Leclerc would do well to learn from his team mate, before he goes up against the might of Lewis Hamilton next year.
It has taken Sainz all of the first part of the season to sort out his plans for next year. He has admitted it has been a distraction at times, but now that’s behind him he can spend his final 10 races as a Ferrari driver ensuring he goes out on a high. This will be a scrap to savour over the rest of the year, especially if Ferrari solve the problems with their SF-24 and get in contention for wins again.
Leclerc vs Sainz: Season summary
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Leclerc vs Sainz: Race-by-race
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Unrepresentative comparisons omitted. Negative value: Leclerc was faster; Positive value: Sainz Jnr was faster
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An Sionnach
1st August 2024, 8:29
Leclerc: 177
Sainz: 162
Right?
Oleg (@olegryzhikov)
1st August 2024, 8:31
But… Leclerc has 177?
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
1st August 2024, 8:40
An Sionnach, @olegryzhikov
Although the article doesn’t clearly state this, it is excluding Saudi Arabia for both drivers due to Sainz not being able to compete. The scores then are correct.
Oleg (@olegryzhikov)
1st August 2024, 8:44
Then the article name is wrong: it’s not “despite missed race” :/
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
1st August 2024, 9:17
Yes, you are correct. The title should get reworded.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
1st August 2024, 10:52
Yes, something like “after correcting for the race sainz missed”.
notagrumpyfan
1st August 2024, 9:03
It’s probably the right way to do this (head to head), but should be made clear.
And changing the wrong title as Oleg indicated.
An Sionnach
1st August 2024, 15:08
Thanks. I was confused as they were close going into the last race in spite of the missed race. At Spa, Leclerc pulled away a bit.
Dane
1st August 2024, 16:56
Honestly, I don’t think that’s fair to Leclerc. He got P2 in qualifying and was fasted of the non Red Bull finishers. It was one of his best weekends and we’re supposed to ignore that. Even before Sainz dropped out in Practice 1 and 2 Leclerc was ahead.
rprp
2nd August 2024, 23:20
The article seems a bit of a mess.
“Though Leclerc is less decisively ahead of his team mate than George Russell is his.”
George Russell isn’t ahead at all.
MichaelN
1st August 2024, 10:07
Leclerc’s gap in qualifying is perhaps the most surprising, given his strong record there.
On the whole he’s slightly faster, but I can’t help but think Ferrari wouldn’t have brought in Hamilton if Leclerc had been more emphatically ahead of Sainz. After six seasons, Leclerc hasn’t really claimed the crown, so to speak.
Frank
1st August 2024, 10:52
Possibly. Bit very few drivers, if any, would be empathically ahead os Sainz.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
1st August 2024, 10:56
I’d say leclerc did well in relation to vettel, but vettel’s 2020 was terrible, so he wasn’t fighting anywhere near peak vettel that season, then 2021 was a season of rebuilding for ferrari, with a not so strong car sainz’s consistency came out on top, then 2022 was a bad season for sainz and the car was the best of the last few years, so leclerc’s speed prevailed that year, and the last couple of years, with ferrari again not being exceptional, sainz is back to being a match for leclerc overall.
Leo B
1st August 2024, 13:12
Why Sainz will not replace Perez for 2025 is the big unanswered question for this year. And none of the established pundits is able to even hazard a guess, it’s so shrouded in mystery. It’s Perez who should have been knocking on the doors of Williams and Alpine not Sainz.
Dane
1st August 2024, 16:04
I think it’s a fear of a repeat of their Torro Rosso days when there was tension between the two. They want a comfortable #2 driver who won’t upset Max.
Edvaldo
1st August 2024, 16:57
When Vettel was their leading driver people were always imagining a better driver on the other car.
Raikkonen was a strong name after his successful 2012 season with Lotus but it was never on their cards.
It’s the same thing now. They won’t be looking at any driver from the top teams, they want someone who’s willing to play their game and be grateful for being offered the chance for better results and who knows, maybe a win every once in a while, so unless Max leaves, they won’t be considering Sainz for the seat. He’s too “dangerous” for their current environment.
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
1st August 2024, 13:34
I think this is definitely a season where leclerc doesn’t seem to be performing to his highest standard as the ferrari just isnt on the pace everywhere and Sainz performing his best to secure a seat. Leclerc also has had some horridic reliability issues in at least 3 races where sainz hasnt. Imagine leclerc will extend the margin in the second half of the season.
Edvaldo
1st August 2024, 13:59
Sainz is doing enough to hold his own, but overall Leclerc is the stronger driver even if very unlucky and clueless a number of times (the two wet races he scored 0 points because of terrible calls with the tyres).
There was never any merit to that “Ferrari kept the wrong driver” talk as Sainz can easily have a strong weekend and than be off the pace the very next. In fact, that’s exactly what happened the last two rounds.
An Sionnach
1st August 2024, 16:18
Yes, that’s the most frustrating thing about Sainz. Sometimes he’s about as lost as Perez, other times he’s great. I saw someone suggest that Sainz is a bit like Prost (in being smart), but Prost was always quick, and much more canny. Piquet was more of a smart driver who could be lacking pace. That’s how Mansell was so close to him – he was fast when he finished, but his driving can’t have been good for the more fragile cars. There are no perfect comparisons, but what about Sainz and Leclerc as a politer version of Piquet and Mansell? I think Piquet once called Mansell a fast i d i o t. That was a characteristically insulting and not-wholly-inaccurate-but-partly-true comment. He was a roguish character. It’s not true of Leclerc, either, but sometimes I wonder. At least it’s almost impossible for a driver to drive the behind out of the car these days, right?!?
Dane
1st August 2024, 16:06
“At the summer break this year, Sainz is ahead by a single point, and can point to his absence from the Jeddah race due to appendicitis to explain why the gap is no larger.“
The current standings:
Leclerc -177pts
Sainz- 162pts
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
1st August 2024, 17:27
Hi @keithcollantine please edit the article, as many have pointed out, this is wrong.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
1st August 2024, 18:06
Leclerc’s had to deal with Ferrari overruling him on strategy on multiple occasions (including the infamous “intermediate in dry conditions 2.0” due to false information being provided in Silverstone, and being overruled on the medium-tyre initial stint, which would have led to a one-stop strategy and fighting for victory at Spa). He’s at least 8 points down* on where he’d be if Ferrari listened to him from those races alone. (Neither would have changed Sainz’s result). There are more lost points from Ferrari behaviour elsewhere in Leclerc’s season if one chooses to look for them (e.g. Vasseur openly admitting sacrificing Leclerc’s race to secure Sainz’s Australia win – an act I suspect gained Sainz no points but lost Leclerc some).
* – I’m being conservative and assuming 2nd for Spa and 9th for Silverstone.
The comment about Sainz’s tyre calls could be better described as “Sainz is allowed to make his own tyre calls and is hardly ever questioned despite its often failing, whereas Leclerc’s calls are usually disrespected despite showing, on average, better judgment than the people who end up picking his strategies”. Ferrari has learned that telling Sainz to follow a team strategy he doesn’t like is pointless, even if Sainz’s idea loses him points – Spain being the classic example. I think that is part of the reason Carlos is at Williams instead of Ferrari for 2025 – but this year, it protects him from being forced onto bad strategies not of his own choosing. I believe Sainz’s performance is a truer indication of where he and Ferrari are, but even there, some of Sainz’s performance is hidden behind Ferrari’s.
If one wishes to understand why Sainz and Leclerc are positioned as they are, there’s not much point looking at either of them. The reason is their team and its choices.