...but i agree with his phrase, that's exacly what sainz should do, not because someone tells him to, but because it's what happens everytime, and the oportunity to pass Charles will only happen in his dreams...or maybe Rueda's!
I don't think Sainz's racecraft is superior overall, but I think you make a great point that he is very capable of seeing how things are unfolding around him. Sainz was consistently able to see the writing on the wall that the strategists were imbeciles and compensate somewhat. I would say that is Leclerc's only real weakness, along with him being too trustworthy of his incompetent team. I really hope he learned something from this past season and is able to focus on being more analytical moving forward. It's hard to do that though, when you're also trying to fight for the title against a top notch driver with a great car, who can easily trust Hannah and focus on putting his hands and feet where they need to be.
It’s not the drivers’ job to worry about strategy other than insisting the team has competent people—and here we don’t know what LEC has been doing behind scenes but the fact that Binotto was canned might be a good indicator—and to give feedback on track conditions and tire grip and such. Sainz did nothing special at Monaco—he just got lucky by basically picking a strategy option that was obviously being considered by all teams—it was just one option—but he also probably screwed up the team’s plans by ignoring them and forcing them to redo plans—in already changeable conditions—for both drivers. Silverstone, he just basically doubled down on screwing over the already screwed LEC. The mistake was made by not doing the obvious and to pit LEC—which he had no say in, just like Sainz had no say in getting brought in for new tires. As for Hannah, you don’t hear Max counter her pit strategy because he knows that 1/ he has a smart strategist working for him, and 2/ the strategist is working for him as a priority over his teammate, which was not the case with LEC.
I agree with a lot of what you’ve written. Strategy is not in Leclerc’s job decision and Ferrari’s strategy department should have their heads roll, as opposed to what goes on at Red Bull. I can’t remember specifics in addition to Monaco, but it did seem to me that Sainz had a little more awareness or willingness to question what was going at times. I honestly think a lot of that comes down to age and experience, which many seem to forget he was more of than Leclerc. Sainz has an extra two seasons on him, but I still believe Leclerc has a much higher ceiling. There really isn’t any comparison.
+1 Sainz had made a lot of really good strategy calls in the last year, essentially doing what Vettel did quite often to good success (for as many races Vettel lost due to errors, he equally won as many due to great calls from himself), but you are right that Leclerc has that special something that only few other drivers possess that seperates the good from the best. I think Leclerc simply trusts in the team to make the right call, or at the very least, if he listens to what the team then calls wrong, he's essentially absolved from the failure.
https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-ferrari-cosha-ottenuto-per-la-firma-delle-regole-motori-26/10421324/
In this day and age, you're just NOT going to win a title with the drivers being forced to question and decide on their strategy. Not their job, nor should they be thinking of that in the car. They have enough going on, including providing the team with as much information as possible in order to formulate an appropriate strategy. Perhaps Carlos does this better, but we really have no idea. It was VERY rare, if at all, that Carlos was stuck behind a slower Leclerc in a race last year. Kevin
Ferrari folds......(card game) Motorsport Italy reports that "after a long dispute, in which Scuderia Ferrari was able to assert the veto right which it did not exercise, the top management of Maranello signed a pre-agreement with the FIA on the 2026 engine rules."
Ferrari shows every sign of giving up and joining the ranks of other once great names...McLaren, Williams, Alfa Romeo, Renault (Alpine)...all now just grid fillers. Combine them with the vanity teams of Aston Martin and Haas...and the RB development team of Alphtauri, and you have 8 teams with no real ability nor interest in racing for the championships. They are just there to provide F1 and FIA with a theatrical backdrop for Mercedes and Red Bull "rivalry." The sport is no longer a sport...it is like professional wrestling...with staged events, made up good guys and bad guys, lots of commercial tie ins, and a pinch or two of other ingredients that have nothing to do with auto racing.
Nicely summed up in one small paragraph. Greed, perceived Hollywood status and money driven too (a large pinch!). The FIA is riddled with vested interests and lost the plot many years ago. As for CL, to be a world champion you need ALL these skills from day 1, unfortunately neither driver is WDC material. Having said that they are possibly the best of a bad bunch
What a load of rubbish, Leclerc would beat Hamilton in the same car any day of the week, and that guy got somehow 7.
Leclerc seems too content with his lot. His dream of being a Ferrari driver has been accomplished, now he just follows team orders. He has none of the drive of a Lauda or Schumacher or Prost or Senna...or even Lewis Hamilton.
He's not content but that's the image the Scuderia wants him to portray. We win as a team, we lose as a team as the saying goes. His race-craft is up there with Max....he just doesn't have a reliable car and a team to back him up strategy wise.....hence he makes mistakes.
Way too harsh for Leclerc sorry! The team should deliver a fast and reliable car, period. Just as a reminder, even Nigel Mansell was a desperate case until 1986 and the mighty FW11..
Life is full of opinions and respect yours, however what is this based on? Surely it is a just conjecture on your part that CL would have beaten LH in the same car! My reasoning is based on facts that CL has not stepped up to the mark and delivered despite team/car failures along the way. If talent was the key ingredient (and CL has plenty) then Alesi, Berger and many many others would have been WDC's. You need much more and I just dont see it in the current driver lineup for SF. Best Tony
Who went on to win his WDC in 92 and CART champion in 93. Only two other F! drivers have ever done that
All aboard !! Image Unavailable, Please Login Piergiuseppe Donadoni @SmilexTech · 8h Se il Simulatore di Maranello non sta dando numeri sballati, la Ferrari 675, che verrà presentata finalmente in presenza a San Valentino in quel di Maranello, partirà forte. Domani articolo su @formu1a__uno con @GiulyDuchessa .
More precisely.. https://www.formu1a.uno/ferrari-675-over-one-second-faster-than-the-f1-75-in-the-simulator/
We've seen this scenario play out season after season......"this years car is 2 seconds faster than last years car"........"this years car has 20hp more than last years car".....blah blah blah. We'll see the first 3 to 4 races to see who has what and where things stand......and we keep on saying "Well, maybe next year."
