Carlos Sainz has emphasized that his personal relationship with Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc remains strong, even amid recent tensions before and after the Las Vegas GP.
After the race, Leclerc left his radio line open to express intense, foul-mouthed frustration over what he perceived as Sainz defying team orders. However, both drivers now insist the matter has been resolved.
"I don't want to go back to what happened in Vegas," Leclerc said ahead of the Qatar GP. "These are the last two races of the season, and we need to do absolutely everything in order to get that constructors' championship. That's all that matters."
Leclerc noted that he has had a "really good" relationship with Sainz throughout their time as Ferrari teammates, and Sainz echoed those sentiments while speaking with Spanish media.
"He is one of the people that I am glad to have met and worked with," Sainz said. "Nobody was happy with the result of that race. I think one of the main reasons is that we just weren't fast enough."
Sainz confirmed that internal discussions at Ferrari have smoothed over the situation.
"It always happens to us," he said. "We go through some misunderstandings that, in the heat of the moment, we obviously express very frankly and we get very frustrated. But after a couple of days, you can see everything with a bit more perspective."
Despite rumors of ongoing acrimony between the drivers, Sainz dismissed such speculation as exaggerated.
"I still see sometimes on social media that people don't believe us and say it's all hype, and honestly, it disappoints me," he said. "Sometimes people can't understand that we have a professional relationship, and in that professional relationship we go through ups and downs.
"But then we also have a personal relationship, and as much as the professional one goes through ups and downs, the personal one—I can tell you—has always been very, very good."
Reflecting on his time at Ferrari with Leclerc as he prepares to leave the team for Lewis Hamilton's arrival in 2025, Sainz expressed pride in their shared experiences.
"He is one of those guys that I know that in the future, when I am not in Formula 1, I will look back and say I am glad to have met him, to have trained with him, and to have many good memories with him," he said.
"In these four years at Ferrari, I have enjoyed every moment with him, even the most difficult ones, as hard as they have been. I am pretty sure that in 20 or 30 years I will laugh about them and look back with pride at what we have achieved together," Sainz concluded.
