Leclerc not clear number one at Ferrari: 'Twelve point difference'

Robert Doornbos believes that Charles Leclerc is not yet the clear number one in the Ferrari team. Carlos Sainz is only twelve points away from the Monegasque's P3 in the championship, but the picture is distorted.

"The only crazy thing you have to say as team boss then, guys, we are also racing with Max Verstappen, who is just running away because you are making each other's lives difficult. Behind you, you have no pressure", begins Dutch driver Doornbos in the Ziggo Sport broadcast after the sprint race.

The battle between Leclerc and Sainz allowed Verstappen to make a small gap to the rest of the field. In the closing stages of the sprint race, Leclerc came a little closer, but it was not good enough to overtake Verstappen. Sainz looked faster at the start of the race, but overtaking remains difficult on the Spielberg circuit.

Ferrari chose not to give team orders, so Sainz was not passed by Leclerc. "No, that's not going to happen", Doornbos stresses. In the driver's championship. Sainz is just twelve points away from Leclerc's P3, but in the past the Monegasque has shown he can compete with championship leader Verstappen.

"The difference is twelve points, so you can't say that Leclerc is clearly the number one. But he thinks he is, because he himself crashed out twice from a winning position due to a problem with the car. It is distorted", says the Dutch analyst. Leclerc has actually been faster than his teammate all season, but at Silverstone Sainz came back strong with the pole position and race win.