"I think they were pretty evenly matched"- F1 pundit gives his verdict on the 2023 F1 season of the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz

Former F1 driver and Sky Sports Pundit Karun Chandhok mentioned that the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were evenly matched throughout the entire 2023 F1 season.

The Italian team were the only team on the grid to stop Red Bull from winning a race in the 2023 season, thanks to Sainz' win in Singapore. However, it was the Monegasque driver who finished ahead of his Spanish teammate in the Driver's Championship by a mere six points.

While appearing on the Sky F1 podcast, Karun Chandhok opined that both Ferrari drivers had an equal season given the lack of performance from the car, saying:

"I think the championship standings are a bit skewed and I put them next to each other on my rankings because I think they were pretty evenly matched when it came to the Sundays."

He added:

"I just think across the season Leclerc again had a slight edge although Carlos's peak in Monza, which was arguably better than Singapore, to defend against Verstappen as Ferrari was not close to Red Bull's pace. But I thought he drove a very good race there, so yeah, strong peaks and pretty consistent results on Sundays."

Ferrari team boss chimes in on not having a "No.1" driver

Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur stated that the 2023 season showcased that the team can function well without favoring any particular driver.

Speaking with RacingNews365, Vasseur claimed that both Leclerc and Sainz performed well, saying:

“We showed this season that we have more than equal treatment between the drivers. We showed on some occasions, I think Singapore was the best example when Charles agreed to start with Soft [tires] to jump [George] Russell and block Russell. When we asked Charles to slow down Russell, he did it. It meant that they did a very good job together.”

Vasseur added:

“It's not that we have a number one [driver] that’s a bigger asset. We have two drivers, they are doing a good job. We have two cars, and two drivers. One of the good points of the season is that they scored almost the same number of points. I will consider this last year in the same way, to give them exactly the same level of freedom and the same approach in the strategy of the race.”

It will be fascinating to see if the Ferrari team principal changes his stance in 2024 if they find themselves challenging for the Driver's Championship.