Ferrari proves that Red Bull made a crucial mistake in choosing the second driver

statistics

Team: Ferrari

Driver: Charles Leclerc – Carlos Sainz

Race duel: 6-3

Points: 80-83

Qualification duel: 8-3

Qualifying difference: 0.134s in favor of Leclerc

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Vettel’s departure

Vettel’s departure, and especially the way it came about, raises many questions in 2020. Why did Ferrari have to announce this so early and was it advisable to pick up Sainz after just one successful year at McLaren? For Sainz’s career, was it wise to join Leclerc’s team? All the questions that were there before, but Sainz silenced all of his critics.

Of course, Leclerc is still the front runner at Ferrari. Monegasque is considered to be one of the sport’s greatest talents, but it also has some weak moments. However, he is very fast on one lap, which makes it all the more remarkable that Sainz lost an average of 0.134 seconds per qualifying for the team in his first half of the season.

Sainz is closer to that than Vettel in his second year. The German lost an average of 0.487 seconds per timed practice throughout 2020. Even on Saturday, Sainz is not a miracle worker. That was also proven by the duel with Lando Norris. Sainz narrowly lost over two seasons on Saturday, but his strength lies precisely on Sunday.

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Points for Ferrari

And Sainz continued that at Ferrari. Sainz is perhaps the most consistent driver in Formula 1 on Sunday. Also this year, apart from two, he scored a few points in every race. It brings him to a total of 83 points, with even two podium places. Leclerc was unlucky, but it is typical that the “faster” Leclerc has more problems with the constant Sainz on Sunday.

This was also the case with McLaren. On Saturday, Norris was less than a tenth faster on average, while Sainz scored significantly more points on Sunday. There is only a three point difference at Leclerc, but what will it be like when Sainz is more used to this car. He makes sure that Ferrari has a great line-up of drivers.

There are still a few points to work on for Sainz. He wants to close the gap on Saturday and the fact that he qualified only three times ahead of Leclerc should be a sign for him to analyze himself. Things didn’t go perfectly on Sunday either, because in the two races Leclerc crossed the finish line six times before Sainz, and vice versa only three.

Painful for Red Bull

Either way, Ferrari has it sorted now. Of the top 4, they have the closest driver duo, and that with a new driver. Red Bull Racing is also investigating Sainz’s situation. They were easily abandoned by the Spaniard, but if you look at it now, it could have been their biggest mistake.

Where Red Bull Racing is currently unable to find a suitable team-mate for Verstappen, Sainz clearly shows what he can do. He’s up against Leclerc in his first half of the year and easily had the upper hand in the duel with Norris on Sunday. If you then look at how easily Norris Ricciardo has pushed aside so far, the value of Sainz suddenly increases significantly.

Of course there were all kinds of problems in the background between Sainz and Verstappen and it may never have worked out well with the two on the same team, but the fact remains that Sainz has proven the opposite to his former employer. Where Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon failed on a top team, Sainz has proven for three years that he can keep up at the top. Perhaps not as the front runner, but as the ideal number two. And that’s exactly what Red Bull has been looking for since the simultaneous departure of Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz.

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