"He was in front of me": Charles Leclerc did not hold back as he fires sarcastic shot at teammate Carlos Sainz

Charles Leclerc did not hold back his words and sarcasm against Carlos Sainz who, according to the Monagasque, ruined his Q3 flying lap.

Both Ferraris were together during the Q3 session. When Leclerc started his flying lap, Sainz was still warming up his tires for the next lap. Hence, Leclerc was unable to drive fast enough around turns three and four because his teammate was in the way.

Speaking on the radio with his team, Charles Leclerc sarcastically thanked Sainz for giving him a tow. The Monagasque said:

“S**t lap…I had no prep this time. Thanks to Carlos for the tow in 3-4.”

After the qualifying session, Leclerc did not hold back and once again sarcastically thanked Carlos Sainz for giving him a tow in turns three and four. He eventually stated that he would discuss the incident with his team and his teammate to clarify the details. Speaking to the media, he said:

“We need to check with the team what happened with Carlos in the first sector in Q3. It was clear I had to push for that lap and he was in front of me in sector 1, preparing his tyres. Yeah…it’s a pity.”

After the 2023 F1 Australian GP qualifying session, Charles Leclerc ended up at P7, while Carlos Sainz managed to stick it in P5. Leclerc is behind both Aston Martin and Mercedes drivers.

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Charles Leclerc admits that Ferrari is not as good as they were last season

During the drivers' press conference before the 2023 F1 Australian GP, Charles Leclerc admitted that Ferrari is not in the same position they were in during the 2022 F1 season. He spoke about how they had some great moments last year, but they need to work extremely hard to achieve that and bounce back to the front of the grid. He said:

"Yeah, good memories. But we are already looking … for this year, we are not coming into this race in the same situation as we were last year, I think. Clearly, our performance is not as good as last year. But we are working massively to try and come back at the front. Last year’s are good memories, as we can see on the images now."

He added:

"Everybody was really happy. But again, we are fully motivated to be back in the front; we know where we need to work on. I don't think there will be any miracles for this weekend. But after that, we've got a three-week break, and we'll try to use it in the best way possible in order to bring upgrades as quickly as possible on the car."

Currently, Ferrari is sitting behind Mercedes, Aston Martin, and Red Bull. Moreover, Charles Leclerc has only scored 6 points after the first two races of the season, compared to the 45 points he scored back in 2022 after the first two races of the season.