How Leclerc, Sainz lifted the Ferrari F1 team to third place at the end of the first half of the 2021 season

The 2021 drivers of the Ferrari F1 team: Charles Leclerc (left) and Carlos Sainz

• Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will be head to head in the 2021 Formula 1 championship.

• Both drivers performed admirably for Ferrari in the first half of the season.

• Sainz joined Ferrari in 2021 as a new team-mate from Leclerc.

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With the 2021 Formula 1 season in the mandatory summer break, teams and drivers can treat themselves to a well-deserved break from a packed first half. At the front of the field, Mercedes-AMG and Red Bull Racing fight for the constructors ‘championship, while their respective drivers – Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen – fight for the drivers’ championship.

Further down in the order, Ferrari and McLaren are tied for third place with 163 points each. And while Ferrari has seen improved performance compared to a disastrous 2020, much of its performance is due to the driver pairing of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr.

Sainz joined the team early in the 2021 season after being replaced by Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren, with the new driver line-up showing an outstanding pace for the fabled Italian team.

Teammate versus teammate

At the end of the first eleven races of the season, Sainz and Leclerc are pretty close in terms of championship points. At the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the last run before the summer break, the two drivers were tied with 80 points each, but Sainz scored three more points after Vettel’s disqualification and promotion.

(Vettel’s disqualification has been since then temporarily overturneduntil further investigation.)

In qualifying for the first half, Leclerc overtook Sainz eight times, with the Spaniard defeating the Monegasque driver three times. The best finishes for both drivers were second places, but Leclerc qualified for pole position twice in 2021. Sainz’s best qualifying position is fourth. Leclerc was also more lucky than Sainz in races, as he failed twice.

The two drivers will try to maintain their form in the second half of the season and bring McLaren to the all-important third place behind the championship leaders.