After months of rumours linking Carlos Sainz to a move away from Ferrari, the Spaniard seems to have silenced all those voices after his performance at the Italian Grand Prix F1... Or did he?

Last Sunday, Sainz ran a defensive race from start to finish. After finally being overtaken by the Red Bull of Sergio Pérez, the Spaniard had to get his elbows out and drive his SF-23 to the limit, (and perhaps beyond), with team-mate Charles Leclerc, to take the final step on the podium.

Sainz makes the difference

Sainz did what would have been unthinkable a year ago. Beating Leclerc, the prince of Maranello, at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. But, this year, the performances of the Monegasque and the Spaniard are starting to give a lot to think about. At this stage of the season last year, Leclerc dominated the qualifying duel by an overwhelming 12-4 at the expense of Sainz. This year, however, the duel currently stands at just 8-6 in favour of the Monegasque. This season, the Spaniard has even been able to claim the delta time between the two, being on average 0.287 seconds faster than the Monegasque on Saturdays.

Leclerc has done little to prevail in the qualifying duel this year, as Sainz has beaten the Monegasque in the race duel. The Spaniard leads his team-mate 8-6 in the balance of results on Sundays. This is taking into account that Ferrari did not let Sainz make the most of his race strategy on three occasions (Canada, Austria, Hungary).

Opinion | No #1 at Ferrari?

While Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur has said that only at Red Bull Racing is there preferential treatment for the Dutchman, Max Verstappen, over Sergio Perez, and that Ferrari does not favour Leclerc in his fight with Sainz, why then was there no order from the Italian pit wall to ask the Monegasque to stay in 4th place, as has happened in the past with the Spaniard?

Actions speak louder than words, or in this case the absence of one. The Italian Grand Prix left many different sensations and emotions. Sainz was the protagonist in Ferrari's home race, however, a big question mark hangs over the Italian team management: Why is it only the Spaniard who receives such orders, if one is to take Vasseur's word for the treatment of the two Ferrari men?

Would there have been more that could have been done to keep Perez off the podium at Monza? It's impossible to know, however, if Ferrari had taken a different approach to the rest of the race after the first pit stop, one of pace management, for example, because Pérez's pace was not as strong as Verstappen's, then perhaps there would have been more for the Scuderia last weekend.

Surely this will not have gone unnoticed by Sainz and his entourage. Especially after recent statements from his father, Carlos Sainz Sr. to Planet F1, in which he admitted that talks and negotiations had taken place between his son and Audi regarding the future, but clarified that nothing had been formalised yet. "Of course there is contact, but nothing [concrete] at the moment. I think for us it's a wait-and-see moment." This deal from Ferrari could be the push Sainz needs to decide to sign for the German manufacturer.

The Spaniard's contract with the Italian marque expires at the end of next season. Sainz has reiterated that he wants to have this resolved as soon as possible so that he can focus on driving the car without having to distract his attention from looking for a seat to stay in the category. For now, we can only "wait and see" how this story unfolds.