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F1 pundit Martin Brundle feels Carlos Sainz has left Charles Leclerc floundering a little at the start of the 2024 F1 season. The Spaniard's career prospects received a massive jolt at the start of the year when it was announced that Ferrari was not going to extend his contract and replace him with Lewis Hamilton.
As a result, Carlos Sainz is without a contract at the end of the 2024 F1 season. He's not going down without trying though and making the most of the opportunities in front of him. The Spaniard has started the season in red-hot form with a podium in each race that he has finished.
He finished P3 in the first race of the season in Bahrain, skipped the second race in Jeddah, won the third race in Melbourne, and then got another P3 in Japan. The driver's form has even raised questions about whether Ferrari made a mistake by replacing Carlos Sainz.
F1 pundit and commentator Martin Brundle credited Carlos Sainz with the kind of form that he's shown at the start of the season and even said that he had left Charles Leclerc floundering. Talking about the Spaniard on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Martin Brundle said:
“It’s really tough for him. In pre-season I said I thought he was going to fly this year because the pressure is off, he can drive for himself a little bit more, the team have biffed him off for Lewis Hamilton. His natural talents are always going to flow with nothing to lose and everything to gain, all of the right mentality to just go and fly and really just take it to everybody and show everybody how wrong they are."
He added:
“That’s exactly what he’s done and he’s left Charles Leclerc floundering to an extent in some respects, and I would never underestimate Charles Leclerc, but I’d never underestimate Carlos Sainz either."
Brundle sides with Ferrari's decision to pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton
Even though Brundle felt that Sainz was hard done by, he understood Ferrari's decision to pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Talking about the Spaniard, however, Brundle feels that Sainz is a no-brainer for teams like Red Bull, Mercedes, and Aston Martin if everything falls in place.
He said:
“I can understand what Ferrari have done, two biggest brands in F1 probably are Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton right now, and they’re joining up and it’s a great story. I think Mercedes, if Antonelli is ready, they’ll try and put Antonelli in Lewis Hamilton’s seat."
He added:
“So will Perez kick the Red Bull seat? That’s the key, that’s the cork in the bottle. Because putting Sainz in the Red Bull would be a no-brainer for me – or an Aston Martin or a Mercedes-Benz for that matter. He’s now got the experience, got speed, he still got youth on his side to an extent.”
Carlos Sainz has had the upper hand over Charles Leclerc in the early stages of the season. It will, however, be interesting to see how the season pans out because we've only had 4 races until now and things could evolve in the future.
