Former F1 champion makes bold claim about Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz

Former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve believes that Carlos Sainz is currently better than his Ferrari F1 teammate Charles Leclerc in the ongoing 2023 season.

The two Ferrari drivers have been tough to separate in terms of performance and standing in the driver's championship this season. While Leclerc has had more podium finishes and eye-catching performances this season, Sainz has been the more consistent and stable driver and leads Charles Leclerc by six points in the standings.

Speaking to PlanetF1 in an exclusive interview, Villeneuve highlighted how the Monegasque is making more mistakes as he struggles to tackle a difficult car. He then boldly claimed that Carlos Sainz was currently better than Charles Leclerc, contrary to popular belief that the latter was above his teammate.

Villeneuve also pointed out that a clear lack of direction in the Italian team is hampering Charles Leclerc more. He said:

“It’s chaos. The car is difficult to drive and, right now, Charles Leclerc is not driving with confidence, and he’s making too many mistakes. That’s not helping the team moving forward. But Carlos Sainz is the better driver right now at Ferrari.

"So there isn’t the driving force coming from the drivers the same way that Max [Verstappen] is doing, that [Fernando] Alonso is doing that, that Lewis [Hamilton] is doing. Drivers need to push the team and, right now, the Ferrari drivers aren’t really doing it.”

Nico Rosberg questions Carlos Sainz's maneuvers while defending against Charles Leclerc

Former world champion Nico Rosberg thinks that Carlos Sainz went 'over the limit' while defending P3 against his Ferrari teammate at the Italian GP.

Both drivers came very close to crashing into each other and fought till the end of the race with Sainz eventually prevailing. Speaking with Sky Sports, the former Mercedes driver said:

“Because I mean, seriously, Carlos on one of those occasions was over the limit. He locked up on the inside, he went off the track and took Charles with him and, as team-mates, that’s the one where that’s a bit over the edge and so I’m not sure what’s going on there.

“I was looking and I was trying to figure out, is this genuine now? And yes, I think it was genuine, you know, so I’m struggling. Is he too nice or what’s going on?”

Charles Leclerc mentioned that he loved battling to the limit with his teammate in front of the Tifosi in Monza this weekend. It would be fascinating to see if he will make any adjustments the next time they face off on the track so that he ends up in front.