"Of course it hurts" - Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on being edged by teammate

Charles Leclerc has opened up about his feelings after being overhauled in the drivers' standings by Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz last season. Sainz joined the Italian outfit at the start of last year from McLaren and managed to outperform Leclerc by the end of the season, despite having to readjust to a completely different car.

During an interview with GPFans during the Barcelona pre-season test, Leclerc was asked whether he was hurt by his team-mate outperforming him, despite the latter having far less experience within the team. He replied, saying:

“Of course, it hurts. It hurts for every driver. As soon as you finish behind your team-mate, whether it is in the championship or in one race, it always hurts. You always want to beat your team-mate.”

Praising his team-mate, however, the Monegasque driver said:

“I think one of the big strengths of Carlos [Sainz] is just being there all the time and every race he is always there. Sometimes I can be a bit too optimistic, and this happened last year a few times and it cost me some points.”

Leclerc felt one of his weaknesses was being overambitions at times and making too many mistakes that eventually ended up costing him. Nevertheless, he feels he has done enough during the last season to be proud of himself, saying:

“I am satisfied with last season. There are some opportunities that I’ve lost, sometimes by not being lucky, some others because of myself just wanting too much and I am learning from it. So, in the end, I paid the price, I learned the lesson and it hurts but I move forward. It is the past. As I said, it hurt in the moment but when I look back across the season, I am satisfied with myself.”

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Ferrari appear poised to resume their battle with McLaren in 2022, following strong start to testing

The intense and often incredibly entertaining battle between eternal foes Ferrari and McLaren from last season has the potential to continue in 2022. The two teams had a strong start to testing, or rather the ’pre-testing shakedown', with drivers from both teams topping the timesheets on various occasions.

The Leclerc and Sainz duo were one of the strongest driver pairings in the midfield last season. The two scored consistently throughout the season to maximize Ferrari’s points haul.

Their combined performance ultimately helped the Scuderia overhaul rivals McLaren to P3 in the constructors' standings, despite the latter having had a superior car for much of the season. With Daniel Ricciardo struggling to adapt to the MCL35M, Lando Norris was left alone to battle against the two Ferrari drivers.

McLaren will be hoping to fight back in 2022, following a regulation reset, which will hopefully allow both its drivers to be at their best. Meanwhile, the Prancing Horse is hoping to break its two-season-long winless streak as it aims to challenge for wins and podiums on a consistent basis.