Preview of Formula 1 in 2021: Will Leclerc struggle with Sainz?

In Formula 1, your main opponent is your teammate, so we at GPblog look ahead to the team duels in 2021. Which drivers will take on each other and what can we expect from that duel? In part five, we take a look at the Ferrari line-up.

Read part 4 of this series here first!

Charles Leclerc

Only in his fourth season in Formula 1, Leclerc has already become a regular at the front of the grid. In his debut season in the Alfa Romeo, he immediately made an impression by frequently driving in the points. No less than ten times, with sixth place in Azerbaijan as his best result. This immediately earned him a promotion to Ferrari.

At Ferrari he started as second behind four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, but during the season the roles became increasingly reversed. Leclerc won twice for Ferrari, in Belgium and - more importantly - in Italy. He also took the podium eight times and finished fourth in the championship. In front of Vettel.

In 2020, Leclerc was already the better of the two Ferrari drivers, but Ferrari were struggling and the Monegasque only managed two podiums. The hope is that Ferrari can find the way up again and provide Leclerc with a good, winning car again.

Carlos Sainz

Sainz starts his seventh season in Formula 1 this year. So the Spaniard clearly has more experience than Leclerc but had to wait a long time for his chance at a top team. In 2015, Sainz started his debut season in Formula 1 alongside Max Verstappen at Toro Rosso. The two were pretty evenly matched, especially in qualifying (10-9 in Sainz's favour). In the race, however, the Dutchman was the better driver, especially as the season progressed.

With Verstappen's promotion to Red Bull Racing, there was little honour left for Sainz at Toro Rosso. At the end of 2017, he therefore moved to Renault where he will remained for 2018. There, however, he had to make way for Daniel Ricciardo and he joined McLaren. At McLaren, the Spaniard completely blossomed and he had his two best seasons so far including two podiums.

The prediction for 2021

Leclerc is one of the greatest talents in Formula 1, but Sainz is definitely someone to be reckoned with. However, if Sainz wants to beat his new teammate he will have to work on his qualifying. Whereas Leclerc has won all his qualifying duels with his teammates so far, Sainz has certainly not done so in recent years.

At Toro Rosso, Sainz still narrowly beat his teammates, but Nico Hulkenberg and Lando Norris have been faster than the Spaniard in qualifying for the past three years. In the race, however, it is a different story. Sainz is much more likely to show his potential there. In the last two years, he has been able to beat his teammate at McLaren.

It is expected that Sainz will show some nice things at Ferrari, but whether he can really challenge Leclerc is doubtful. Not least because the Monegasque is clearly Ferrari's number one driver and he has been there for two years. However, when Leclerc joined Ferrari there was also a clear number one, and we know how that ended.