Sainz threw a cape at Leclerc and defended the Monegasque after his accident

That’s always said Carlos Sainz is a team player. Defend yourself tooth and nail. Always. The Spanish driver has done so in recent months, trusting in Ferrari’s ability to improve his car’s poor start to the course and also showing full confidence in the factory. Maranello And with all the decisions I make Frederic Vasseur, both in the car, and in the restructuring the team is undergoing in key positions. AND This Saturday, at the Miami GP, the Spaniard once again brought out his ‘team player’ philosophy by tossing the cape to his teammate Charles Leclercdefending him after the accident he suffered in the qualifying session, at the same point where the Monegasque had smashed his car against the protections in Free Practice 2 the previous day.

The Spaniard did not hesitate to defend his teammate Leclerc, the same one who, two races ago, in Australia, blamed Carlos on television for not receiving a slipstream for his part in the ‘qualy’ in Melbourne and in that corralito de prensa. did not even think twice to ask the Spaniards for an explanation in front of all the media. This time, Charles took full blame for his qualifying mistake and Carlos wanted to take some of the blame off him by highlighting the car’s ‘feeliness’ and ‘instability’ at high speeds.

“It was very difficult to drive here. I had moments in the high-speed sections, which prove that the car is very difficult. We have a very sensitive car, perhaps unstable at high speed, and that led to errors and accident.”he continued.

“But both Charles and I are doing our best to push the car to the limit and put it in the position where it belongs.and this weekend (that position) I think is just behind the Red Bulls”, commented the Spaniard at the official FIA press conference after the ‘qualy’.

“Charles? What a pity. He starts 7th and it’s a weekend so the Ferrari can be on the second row. This shows that our car is difficult. I made some mistakes in FP3 and he crashed twice this weekend at that point. It’s a car that costs and you have to be clear about it in ‘qualification'”, added the man from Madrid to ‘DAZN F1’.

Leclerc: “I’m angry. I wanted some aggressive settings”

Charles Leclerc was angry with himself after fighting the wall in the qualifying session of the Miami GP. The ‘beginner’ said he took too many risks on his final lap of Q3, after making a mistake on his first attempt at the turn, driving with a few set-ups where he too took a risk and went off the limit. The Monegasque driver knew the superiority of Red Bull and chose to take the maximum risk with an extreme setup and also with an overly aggressive drive that cost him at a certain moment.

“I know qualifying is my strong point and obviously I take more risks in Q3. That pays off nine times out of 10. But obviously this is a weekend where I put it twice on the wall and it’s not the level I want to be at,” Charles said.

“I am very disappointed in myself. I did a good lap in the first lap of Q3. But it’s not important to say that when you don’t finish that lap and you lock yourself up in the last corner, and on the second lap you hit the wall. So again, I’m very angry with myself,” he added, noting the difficulties the car presents with a tailwind.

“We know we have a weakness in the tailwind. Whenever we have a tailwind, we suffer more than other cars. But I want that car to be very tricked out because I know that’s the way you have to drive this car. And now it’s too much. I also put myself in a difficult situation because I wanted a very aggressive set-up for qualifying, knowing that it was a set-up that I would need to get the most out of the car. Maybe I went too far and this is something that I will see after the weekend”, argued.