Schumacher slams Leclerc and Sainz in scathing review of Ferrari duo

09 May 2023 , 10:33

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Sainz and Leclerc have struggled for race pace this season (Image: Hasan Bratic/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were told to stop complaining about their car as "the Ferrari team is currently doing a better job than both drivers".

The Italian team has started the season much worse than expected. Their car is excellent over one lap, even matching the incredible Red Bull machines in some qualifying sessions, but over the course of a race the Ferraris are shredding their tyres to pieces.

After another underwhelming result in Miami last weekend, both Leclerc and Sainz were critical of the machine they have been given to drive. But former racer Ralf Schumacher believes the drivers are currently the biggest problem for the Maranello squad.

"The car isn't great, but it's better than they say," he told Germany's Sport1. "One driver [Sainz] mis-brakes at the pit entrance, while the other [Leclerc] hardly finishes a fast lap without crashing. Frank Williams would have clipped me around the ears. The trend just isn't good."

The six-time F1 race winner went on to add that he has a lot of sympathy for new team principal Frederic Vasseur, as he feels the Frenchman has been let down by Leclerc and Sainz making errors.

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"A lot has happened already since he took office," Schumacher added. "I see the biggest problem with the drivers. For me, they're just not consistent enough.

Ralf Schumacher was critical of the Ferrari drivers (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

"With his mistakes, Leclerc shows that he either doesn't have the maturity or maybe, at the end of the day, he's not consistently good enough to win a world championship for Ferrari. And Sainz was eight-tenths away from Leclerc in one weekend. To be honest, the Ferrari team is currently doing a better job than both drivers."

Leclerc's two crashes over the Miami race weekend left him struggling with a sore neck for the race, after which he complained about the car. The Monegasque's main concerns were about bouncing in high-speed corners, its general inconsistency and a claim that it is "incredibly sensitive to wind".

Meanwhile, Sainz feels the car does not allow for many strategy options because of how quickly it burns through tyres. "We have to keep trying things, but every Saturday we fight for pole and then Sunday comes and we get a bit of a slap in the face in the race," said the Spaniard.

Daniel Moxon