Sainz: Ferrari team orders unlikely, but ready just in case

Carlos Sainz has made clear that if Ferrari asks him to step aside to help teammate Charles Leclerc in the fight for the world championship, he’s ready to do it, although the Spaniard doubts team orders will come into play.

Leclerc is still in the hunt for the Drivers’ title, albeit at a significant distance – 86 points – behind championship leader Max Verstappen who himself holds a 52-point lead over runner-up Lando Norris.

Over the last four rounds, Sainz has lost ground to his teammate, managing to score just 28 points versus 58 for Leclerc, which has left him 55 points behind the latter in the standings with only six rounds to go.

While Sainz would follow Ferrari's instructions to aid Leclerc's title bid, the outgoing Scuderia charger has also acknowledged the improbability of such a scenario given the current points gap.

"No, nothing has been discussed because of the probability," Sainz told the media when asked about team orders.

"I think if you look at the numbers and everything, everything is quite far and we will need to wait and see. But if the team one day asks me to do so, I’ve always been a team player and I will [do it].”

• Read also: Sainz admits to ‘wasted opportunities’ in recent races

While the points gap in the standings might suggest a significant disparity between Leclerc and Sainz, the two drivers have often been very closely matched in both qualifying and on race day.

Sainz is quick to give credit where it’s due, rating Leclerc as one of the fastest drivers on the grid – but the fact that he’s been so close behind is also a testament to his own speed.

“Charles is, if not the fastest, one of the fastest guys I’ve ever faced, especially at one lap pace,” he told Spanish daily AS.

“And the gap to him has been very small from practice to race pace. The team keeps stats for the whole year and the numbers are incredibly close. Always with similar points, with very close starting grid positions.

“The only problems have come from always starting together on the track, one behind the other, but that has been Ferrari’s advantage with a very balanced driver pairing.”

Next year, Sainz will open with Williams a new chapter in his distinguished F1 career. But he’ll leave the House of Maranello with a sense of pride in his contributions to Ferrari’s resurgence.

“When I signed with Ferrari they were coming from one of the most difficult times for them in recent years, they were way back in 2020, more than a second a lap behind the best,” commented the three-time Grand Prix winner.

“If you see how Ferrari was when I arrived and how it is now, I am proud of the progress that has been made because of all the work we have done to get here.

“There have been ups and downs in the process, the evolution in 2022, the downgrade in 2023 and the gradual improvement in 2024. They’ve been seasons that have allowed me to win my first races in F1, get my first poles, get a lot of podiums.

“I’m happy to have signed for a historic team and to have enjoyed being a Ferrari driver during these years.”

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