In a strange turn of events, both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc contradicted each other on whether the two had the opportunity to talk about the incident in the sprint race. The sprint earlier in the day saw Sainz and Leclerc being part of a group that was battling for positions.
In one such scenario, Charles Leclerc had a run on Carlos Sainz on the long straight, while the Monegasque driver had the outside line, and the Spaniard pushed his teammate off the track. While it didn't affect the final result much between the two Ferrari drivers as Leclerc overtook Sainz subsequently, the driver was furious at the move.
In these situations, it is often said that the two drivers would resolve the situation after a conversation behind closed doors. In a bizarre turn of events, however, both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc gave conflicting accounts to the media.
Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, Charles Leclerc said that a discussion had already taken place between him and Sainz about the incident. He said:
“Yes, it is all done and it is all good. No problems. I am not going to disclose all the details of our discussions because it is always private discussions and it should remain private but the discussions went well and we are all fine.”
Carlos Sainz, however, had a conflicting take as he claimed that the two are yet to talk about the incident. He said:
“The reality is that we didn't manage to talk, because obviously with this format it's not like you get time to talk with each other much. We will probably do so tonight. There's nothing spicy about it. There's nothing to say or do. I think we were racing really hard in the sprint. We were racing very hard also some of the other cars, and I didn't complain."
Charles Leclerc feels Carlos Sainz went over the limit
Immediately after qualifying, Charles Leclerc was questioned about the incident with Carlos Sainz in the sprint, to which he said that the Spaniard had gone over the limit. Leclerc did, however, say that the two would have a conversation about it and sort it out among themselves, just like they'd done in the past. He told the media, including Sportskeeda:
“I think so but to be honest I have also crossed a line myself in the past and when this happens we normally have a discussion, we clear the air. We went through that in the past and it went really well so I have no worries that it will also be the case this weekend. But today he went a bit over the limit.
It is notable that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have contradicted each other to such a level. Why that happened is something we will only know when they're asked about it on Sunday, but this certainly makes for a very interesting race.