No resistance from Carlos Sainz

(Motorsport-Total.com) – Ferrari had to cash in on stable demand again on Sunday in Portugal. Carlos Sainz surprisingly beat team-mate Charles Leclerc on Saturday, but the Spaniard came back on Sunday. Since Leclerc was behind him faster, Ferrari ordered Sainz on lap 37 to let Munegasen pass.

“We’ll swap positions,” Sainz Command Center wirelessly dispatched to the car – he obeyed and let his colleague pass before the fifth turn. “Switching positions is something we want to avoid,” says team leader Mattia Binotto. “These are things that aren’t usually great, but sometimes they can be necessary.”

They were forced to do so on Sunday because Sainz had serious problems with its midsize tires and Leclerc was behind faster.

Binotto praises Sainz for his cooperation: “We asked him to do it and he did it right away,” says the Italian. “It shows that he got the message. When you have drivers who understand the priorities and support the team, it always makes me happy.”

Sainz falls off the points

The fact that the exchange was finally correct can be easily seen from the score: Leclerc finished sixth in Portimao, and Sainz lost points despite his strong fifth position on the net. “It was my first hard race with Ferrari,” he says. “It is clear that things did not go according to plan.”

“We will think a lot, analyze, criticize ourselves and see what we can do better in the future,” says the Spaniard. “I am currently on a steep learning curve and he must continue. Today is part of the learning curve. “

Of course, he also caught a glimpse of his team-mate Leclerc: “I got to learn a lot from Charles, how to drive some turns, use a certain driving style or go one way, then go back and try again,” he says.

Leclerc quarrels: the best step-by-step

But Monegas was not satisfied with the weekend either – especially not with the qualifiers, as he fell short of expectations with eighth on the network and visibly lost to Sainz. “I learned that maybe I should have taken it step by step – especially on this tough weekend.”

“I tried to push the car to its limits from the start,” he says. “It made the weekend so messy.” “Fridays and Saturdays weren’t good days for me. Maybe I managed one in ten laps very well. I wasn’t consistent.” On the other hand, he is “happy” with his race, he says.

What Sainz appreciates about Leclerc, in contrast, is above all his “special ability” to put the tournaments together at the defining moment in Q2 and Q3. “We can all see that,” praised the Spaniard. “And I must see how he’s doing it because he clearly knows how to do it.”

Sainz said, “Up until now we have been very open to each other. This makes things good and healthy as a team. We are both pushing in the same direction and learning from each other.” It also means accepting a stable order in time.