Fred Vasseur quells suggestions of Charles Leclerc-Carlos Sainz tension after F1 Spanish GP

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur quashed reports of tension between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz after an intense verbal altercation at the end of the 2024 Spanish GP. The Monegasque driver was not happy with his Spanish teammate's move on during the race's opening laps on Sunday, which led to the two drivers exchanging barbs in the media.

The Ferrari drivers started the race in P5 and P6, with Leclerc leading the home hero, Sainz, and finishing in the same order. However, the race wasn't straightforward for the pair, as Sainz made a late lunge to overtake Leclerc into Turn 1. Sainz touched Lelarc's front wing, and later took the escape road to complete the maneuver.

Leclerc wasn't impressed with Carlos Sainz's antics, as the latter did not honor their pre-race agreement. After their public jibes at each other, Frederic Vassuer told RacingNews365, that they both shared a 'very good' relationship off the track.

"Out of the car, they have a very good relationship, good mutual trust and they are racers. For sure you can have this kind of case, but I know perfectly that from this situation, we are getting a lot," he said.

"Last year, we recovered because we had this situation between them and this competition all over the season. Sometimes, what happened, happens and it is part of the game," he added.

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Charles Leclerc takes a dig at Carlos Sainz after the Spanish GP

Charles Leclerc stated that his Spanish teammate, Sainz, wanted to impress his home crowd by making some overtakes. Lelarc claimed that Sainz made the move on the 'wrong driver'.

Speaking with F1.com, the 26-year-old said:

“It’s a bit of a shame but anyway we will speak internally, it’s not a big deal, I understand it’s his home race and a very important moment of his career and he wanted to do something spectacular, and I probably wasn’t the right person to do that with."

Carlos Sainz did not take the comments by his Ferrari teammate lightly and retaliated:

“I think too many times he complains after a race about something. Obviously hot, he might think that. Honestly, at this point of the season, I don’t know."

He explained that he went on the attack because he was on a fresh track, and it was imperative for him to try and seek an advantage.

"I was on the attack, we were on a new soft, Mercedes were on a used soft and we had to go on the attack in the first laps when you are on a new tyre and try to pass them, like we said even before the race," he said.

The battle between the teammates did cost Charles Leclerc an opportunity to take the P4 from Mercedes driver George Russell, as the former finished just a couple of tenths behind the British driver at the chequered flag.