F1 insider pinpoints one area where Carlos Sainz is better than Charles Leclerc

Former F1 driver and pundit Marc Surer believed that Carlos Sainz was better than Charles Leclerc in terms of adaptability to the car. The 30-year-old is leaving the Italian team at the end of the 2024 season after four years with the Maranello-based outfit.

During his time at Ferrari, Carlos Sainz has been able to push Leclerc on the track, despite only finishing ahead of him once in four years in the driver's standings. Although, the Monegasque leads his Spanish counterpart in every competitive metric, including race wins.

While speaking on Formel1.de's YouTube channel this week, Surer claimed that Carlos Sainz was better at driving an 'imperfect car', while Charles Leclerc tended to fare better when the car worked to his liking. He said (via PlanetF1):

“Sainz’s strength is he can live with it if the car is not perfect, he can adapt to it, he can deal with it," Surer said. "If the car is good, then Leclerc is incredibly fast. But only then. When the car does what he wants. Then he is often two or three-tenths faster than Sainz – and Sainz doesn’t know why."

“But the car has to do exactly what Leclerc wants, namely turn in well. He is also one of those people who needs a car with a sticky front axle. If the car is not quite perfect, Sainz is faster,” he added.

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Carlos Sainz gives his take on getting rejected by the top teams

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz said that he had come to "peace" with the fact that teams like Mercedes and Aston Martin looked past him whilst deciding their driver lineups for the 2025 season.

Speaking with Sky Sports last week, Sainz, who would be joining the Williams F1 team next year, reflected on the rejections and said (as quoted by Crash.net):

“I have definitely come to peace," Sainz said. "I am a true believer that, if I don’t go there, it’s because life doesn’t want me to. It’s because something else is coming that will turn out to be good. It hurt at the time. We all have egos. I have a driver ego."

“I couldn’t understand it, at the time. I still cannot understand certain choices that people have done. Williams invested in me, that have backed me from the beginning, and came to me a full year ago. It makes me excited, I want to give back to them what they gave to me."

Carlos Sainz has won two races in the 2024 season, in Melbourne and Mexico City, to take his tally to four wins in his career. He will join the Grove-based outfit to race alongside Alex Albon in his bid to convince top teams to have a second look at him if he outperforms in a midfield car.