Ferrari ran a solid race in Bahrain to start their season. The team’s ace driver, Charles Leclerc, was the one who got the higher praise, largely thanks to his qualifying brilliance. However, her new recruit, Carlos Sainz, had a pretty good race himself, finishing in 8th. He usually snuck under the radar, but there were optimistic signs. This leads former world champion Jacques Villeneuve to believe that the Spaniard can give Leclerc a few headaches.
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Villeneuve said (translated by Google): “For Charles, the real danger is Sainz.”
The Spaniard may not have the same talent as Leclerc, but he has a lot more experience on his side. He’s also joining Ferrari after two great seasons with McLaren, where he caught the attention of fans.
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MONTE CARLO, MONACO. Carlos Sainz Jr. of the McLaren F1 Team in the paddock. Monaco F1 Grand Prix. (Photo by Marco Canoniero / LightRocket via Getty Images)
Plus, Sainz is also one of the hardest working drivers on the grid and it’s only a matter of time before he gets good so a prestigious team like Ferrari wouldn’t have welcomed him if they hadn’t seen anything special. Villeneuve also shares a similar outlook.
Villeneuve can imagine Carlos Sainz harassing Charles Leclerc at Ferrari
While the Italian team may not be able to admit it, from the outside there is definitely a clear driver with the numbers 1 and 2. But Villeneuve believes Sainz is able to provide some food for thought to his teammate and the Maranello based outfit.
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc prepares to drive in the garage. Hungarian F1 Grand Prix. Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Lars Baron / Getty Images)
He said: “Carlos has never been on such an important team: he has built up over time, he arrives with determination and experience, he is used to facing fast team-mates. He’s cold, he’s learning, he can annoy Charles a lot. “
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Carlos certainly asserted himself against Max Verstappen, Nico Hülkenberg and Lando Norris as his teammates. So he would not defend himself too much against Leclerc, as Villeneuve rightly emphasized.
It may take Sainz a while to get used to the SF21 and the new surroundings, but his appearance in Bahrain would have been a confidence boost. Now it’s up to him how he can build up from then on. Can he be the surprise package at Imola? We shall see soon.
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