Sainz recalls Leclerc Ferrari battles as Hamilton's Mexico frustration lingers

Carlos Sainz offered a measured defence of fierce team-mate battles after reflecting on his own history with Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, speaking in Brazil in the wake of Leclerc’s controversial first-lap clash with Lewis Hamilton at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Leclerc and Hamilton fought for the lead on the opening lap at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with Leclerc attempting to pass around the outside of his team-mate at Turn 4. Both drivers ran off the track, Leclerc emerged ahead, and Hamilton also lost a position to Max Verstappen. A subsequent five-second penalty for Leclerc handed Verstappen the victory.

Hamilton, who admitted on Thursday he was “still frustrated” by the incident, had suggested that Leclerc races him and former Ferrari team-mates harder than other rivals. Sainz, now at Williams, framed that tendency as an inevitable consequence of competing at the front.

“Honestly, I have relatively good memories with my time with Charles and the fights we had,” Sainz said. “It is true that when you’re fighting for wins, there’s always more pressure, more things down the line. So you become naturally a bit more selfish than when you are fighting in the midfield for a P8 or a P9. It’s more difficult maybe to follow exactly the ideal situation that the team would like you to follow, because there’s a win down the line.”

Sainz cited Monza and Las Vegas as examples of their most intense on-track moments, but said the pair always resolved disagreements away from the circuit. “I always respected Charles. He always respected me. We never had contacts or anything like this. We just had strong fights. There were plenty of hot moments,” he said.

The Spaniard was candid about where the real strain of his Ferrari years came from — not the racing itself, but the atmosphere surrounding the team. He described suffering abuse from a section of Leclerc’s fanbase and pressure from some Italian media who questioned whether he was fulfilling a supporting role.

“What was difficult more was the fan base — it was very polarised between Charles and me. I remember suffering a bit from the very hardcore fans of Charles, insulting or wishing me bad. Maybe some Italian media also saying that I was not being enough of a number two when I needed to be, and vice versa whenever Charles had to do it,” Sainz said.

The comments add context to a broader conversation about intra-team dynamics at Ferrari, with Hamilton now navigating a similar relationship with Leclerc in his debut season at Maranello.