Instantly after the dash race Leclerc stated he wished to talk to team-mate Sainz about his “over the restrict” defensive driving when the pair appeared to conflict at Flip 14.
Talking after grand prix qualifying in a while Saturday in Shanghai, Leclerc said he had spoken to his fellow Ferrari driver to clear the air.
“Sure, it’s all completed and it’s all good. No issues,” Leclerc stated.
“I’m not going to reveal all the main points of our discussions as a result of it’s all the time non-public discussions and it ought to stay non-public however the discussions went properly and we’re all positive.”
Nevertheless, in his personal media briefing, Sainz appeared to contradict Leclerc whereas blaming the brand new dash race weekend schedule for stopping them from having an in-depth dialogue.
“The truth is that we did not handle to speak, as a result of clearly with this format it is not such as you get time to speak with one another a lot,” Sainz stated. “We’ll most likely achieve this tonight.”
Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24
Picture by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Regardless of the incident, each drivers seem keen to maneuver on after the frantic Chinese language GP dash race and give attention to Sunday’s grand prix, through which Leclerc begins sixth and Sainz seventh.
“There’s nothing spicy about it. There’s nothing to say or do,” Sainz stated. “I believe we had been racing actually laborious within the dash. We had been racing very laborious additionally a number of the different automobiles, and I did not complain.
“It is only a matter of clearly retaining as a lot area as attainable to your team-mate, which I’ll all the time attempt to do and I’ve all the time completed in my profession.
“It is simply, yeah, I used to be in a nasty spot there after the automobile injury from Fernando, the ground was utterly damaged, numerous filth on my tyres, so it is not like I may have completed quite a bit.”
Moments earlier than the Flip 14 flashpoint between the Ferrari pair, which was famous by the FIA stewards however not investigated, Sainz was battling with Fernando Alonso and the pair made mild contact at Flip 7 and once more at Flip 9.
The latter incident landed the Aston Martin driver a post-sprint race 10-second penalty and three penalty factors.