Ferrari Formula 1 drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have been divided over the events that transpired following their clash in the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint race.
Leclerc attempted an overtake on the sister car during the closing stages of the truncated encounter at the Turn 14 hairpin when Sainz understeered into the other car.
Sainz had been engaged in an intense duel with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso beforehand, which had seen the two touch and opened the door for Leclerc to pounce.
Leclerc branded his team-mate’s defensive driving as “over the limit”, while Sainz had divulged that he was combating damage to his car and worn rubber under braking.
Having qualified sixth for tomorrow’s race – one place ahead of Sainz – Leclerc revealed that the matter had become settled once the pair had discussed the minor saga.
“Yes, it is all done and it is all good. No problems,” Leclerc told Autosport.
“I am not going to disclose all the details of our discussions because it is always private discussions and it should remain private but the discussions went well and we are all fine.”
However, Sainz repudiated that a conversation had taken place and pinpointed the tight schedule comprised on a Sprint weekend as the reason that it hadn’t occurred.
“The reality is that we didn’t manage to talk, because with this format it’s not like you get time to talk with each other much,” he claimed. “We will probably do so tonight.”
Sainz denied that he could have done much to have avoided the slight contact with Leclerc, citing that the matter had been overblown based on his fights with rivals.
“There’s nothing spicy about it. There’s nothing to say or do,” Sainz declared.
“I think we were racing really hard in the Sprint. We were racing very hard also some of the other cars, and I didn’t complain.
“It’s just a matter of obviously keeping as much space as possible to your team-mate, which I will always try to do and I’ve always done in my career.
“It’s just, yeah, I was in a bad spot there after the car damage from Fernando, the floor was completely broken, a lot of dirt on my tyres, so it’s not like I could have done a lot.”
