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Ferrari will not implement team orders between their two drivers at the 2022 F1 Spanish GP, according to former driver-turned-analyst Jolyon Palmer.
Earlier in the season, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto had stated that team orders were not on his mind despite Charles Leclerc's better start to the campaign in comparison to teammate Carlos Sainz.
Leclerc leads the World Drivers' Championship standings with 104 points after the first five rounds of the season. Sainz is 51 points behind the Monegasque, having suffered two DNFs in Melbourne and Imola.
When Palmer was asked if the disparity between the two drivers could be a sign of impending team orders on the F1 Nation podcast, the former GP2 Series champion said:
“I can pretty much guarantee it won’t be this weekend, if it does come. For Carlos [Sainz], can you imagine telling him that he’s got to get out the way? And he’s never won a race. It’s the trickiest one for Carlos, because he beat Charles [Leclerc] in the points last year.”
Charles Leclerc's 'relentless performance' 'looks ominous' for Carlos Sainz in battle to be top Ferrari driver in 2022
Jolyon Palmer feels the good form shown by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and his title rival Max Verstappen makes team orders an inevitability for their teammates Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez, respectively.
Leclerc holds a 5-0 record in both qualifying and race finishes against Sainz so far in the fight to be the top 'horse' in the Scuderia stable. Meanwhile, Verstappen currently leads Perez by 85 points to 66, despite some reliability issues. In a conversation on the F1 Nation podcast, Palmer went on to add to his earlier point by saying:
“I don’t think that point [of using team orders] comes just yet. We can all see the direction it’s going, but you never say never. It just takes a couple of bad races, and it can swing back round at this point. It’s just the relentless performance of those two [Leclerc and Verstappen] sort of looks ominous for their teammates, and then eventually, at some point, I think they have to do [team orders].”
Sainz will be hoping to build on his podium finish at the inaugural Miami GP with a strong showing on home soil at the 2022 F1 Spanish GP. The Ferrari driver has always scored points at the Circuit de Catalunya since his F1 debut in 2015.
