Ferrari prove Red Bull made crucial mistake with number two driver choice

Halfway through the season it is time to take stock in Formula 1. Ferrari said goodbye to Sebastian Vettel after last season and brought in Carlos Sainz as his replacement. Leclerc seemed to be the intended frontrunner, but Sainz has surprised friend and foe with the speed at which he has adapted. Has Ferrari found the ideal line-up with a driver from Red Bull's stable?

Statistics

Team: Ferrari

Drivers: Charles Leclerc - Carlos Sainz

Racing duel: 6-3

Points: 80 - 83

Qualifying duel: 8-3

Qualifying difference: 0.134s in favour of Leclerc

The departure of Vettel

Vettel's departure and especially the way in which it happened raised a lot of questions in 2020. Why did Ferrari have to announce it so early, and was it wise to pick up Sainz after just one successful year at McLaren? Was it wise for the career of Sainz to join the team of Leclerc? All questions which were there beforehand, but Sainz has silenced all his critics.

Of course Leclerc is still the leader at Ferrari. The Monegasque is considered one of the greatest talents in the sport, but also has some poor moments. He is, however, very fast on one lap, so it's all the more remarkable that Sainz has only lost 0.134s on average per qualifying in his first half season for the team.

Sainz is already closer to that than Vettel managed in his second year. The German lost an average of 0.487s per qualifying session over the whole of 2020. Sainz is not a miracle worker on Saturday either. This was also proven in the duel with Lando Norris. Sainz lost narrowly on Saturday over two seasons, but his strength lies precisely on Sunday.

Points for Ferrari

And that's what Sainz has continued to do at Ferrari. Sainz is perhaps the most constant driver in Formula 1 on Sunday. This year again he has scored some points in every race except two. It brings him to a total of 83 points, with even two podiums. Leclerc has had his bad luck, but it is typical that the 'faster' Leclerc has more trouble with the constant Sainz on Sunday.

At McLaren this was also the case. Norris was on average less than one tenth faster on Saturday, but Sainz gathered a lot more points on Sunday. With Leclerc there is only a difference of three points, but how will that be when Sainz is more used to this car. He makes sure Ferrari has a great driver line-up.

There are still some points to work on for Sainz. He'll want to close the gap on Saturday, and the fact that he only qualified three times ahead of Leclerc should be a sign for him to analyse himself. Things aren't perfect on Sunday either, as the races that both finished, Leclerc finished ahead of Sainz six times, while the other way around was only three.

Painful for Red Bull

Either way, Ferrari have got it sorted now. Of the top four they have the closest driver duo, and that with a new driver. The situation of Sainz will also be looked at by Red Bull Racing. They let the Spaniard leave them quite easily, but looking at it now that might have been their biggest mistake.

Where Red Bull Racing just can't find a suitable teammate for Verstappen, Sainz clearly shows what he can do. He's up against Leclerc in his first half year, and had the upper hand in Sunday's duel with Norris fairly easily. If you then look at how easily Norris has pushed Ricciardo aside so far, the value of Sainz suddenly rises significantly.

Of course there were all sorts of issues in the background between Sainz and Verstappen and it may never have worked out well with those two in the same team again, but the fact remains that Sainz has proved his former employer wrong. Where Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon failed at a top team, Sainz has shown for three years that he can compete at the top. Maybe not as the frontrunner, but as the ideal number two. And that's exactly what Red Bull have been looking for since the simultaneous departure of Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz.