Carlos Sainz blasted by Charles Leclerc as Ferrari team-mates clash at Chinese Grand Prix

Carlos Sainz blasted by Charles Leclerc as Ferrari team-mates clash at Chinese Grand Prix

Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were among the four F1 stars battling for third place in the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint, but Leclerc was left fuming about Sainz’s actions

Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz (

Charles Leclerc accused Carlos Sainz of being “over the limit” as they scrapped on track during the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint.

Both Ferrari racers were in the hunt for third place in Saturday’s short-form race. And they weren’t the only ones, with Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso also fighting in a four-way melee.

Perez was the one who came out on top, while Leclerc was fourth ahead of his Ferrari team-mate. But the Monegasque was left unimpressed by Sainz’s conduct on track as he reflected on the fight after the race.

He was pushed wide by Sainz at Turn 14 and felt the Spaniard had gone too far. Leclerc said: “I think it was aggressive, maybe, between Carlos and I – a bit too aggressive. I think Carlos was a bit over the limit today.

“In the past we’ve had other fights where sometimes I was over the limit, sometimes he was over the limit. Today I think it was on his side. We’ll have to discuss, like we always do in these kind of situations.

“But we have a great relationship with Carlos so I have no worries… I think we’ll clear the air very, very quickly and it will be all fine, but obviously today I think we were pretty lucky to both finish the race. The contact was a bit unnecessary.”

Sainz admitted that he may have gone a little too far in that battle against the other Ferrari. “I was pushing Max [Verstappen] hard at the beginning because I knew if I was passing him I had a strong chance of winning the race,” the 29-year-old said.

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