Charles Leclerc slams ‘wrong headlines’ about Carlos Sainz relationship

Charles Leclerc has moved to set the record straight about his relationship with former Ferrari F1 teammate Carlos Sainz.

Leclerc and Sainz are parting ways as teammates after four seasons alongside each other at Ferrari, with the latter moving to Williams in order to make way for the arrival of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes.

Leclerc was left frustrated that his comments ahead of the penultimate race of the season in Qatar were taken “out of context”.

Ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix, the Monegasque said: “I’ve said it many times, on one hand, it’s not like I’m going miss him like crazy, because he will still be in the paddock, maybe 20 metres away.”

Speaking at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Leclerc was critical of how some media outlets had portrayed his comments.

“I’ve seen some wrong headlines in the past few days,” Leclerc said.

“My words have been put a little bit out of context. Especially in the fact that I won’t miss Carlos. I was just saying that because he’s 20 meters away in the paddock.

“Honestly, I’ve had an incredible relationship with Carlos. Really, in terms of person, he’s such a good person.

“We’ve always had a really, really good relationship.”

Leclerc insists relationship is ‘really good’

Despite some on-track frictions, most notably at the Las Vegas Grand Prix which prompted an angry radio outburst from Leclerc, he stressed the pair have a strong relationship.

“Yes, we’ve had our tensions on the track sometimes but it’s normal,” Leclerc said.

“At the end, we are both racing for Ferrari, but we’re also racing to try and win races.

“When we are so close on track, sometimes there are things that are not going to be agreed by both parties.

“I think the thing I’ll remember is that every time there was this kind of thing, we always got out a bit stronger and closer together.

“We have a really, really good relationship. We also have a lot of things that we share outside the track.

“I’m sure that even though [Sainz] won’t be in red next year, we’ll most likely travel together on the races to spend some time together.

“Because our relationship is really good. So yes, I wish him the best.”

Hamilton will become Leclerc’s third different Ferrari teammate from 2025.