Carlos Sainz has used his own experience at Ferrari to play down any potential spat between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc after the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.
Sainz and Leclerc were team-mates at the Scuderia from 2021 to 2024 before the Spaniard moved to Williams for 2025 after he was replaced by seven-time world champion Hamilton.
During those four years, the two were often evenly matched - Sainz scored 900.5 points compared to Leclerc’s 1,029 - and this sometimes led to heated moments on track.
At the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix, for example, Sainz accused the Monegasque of ‘complaining too much’ after the Spaniard made contact with his team-mate while overtaking in Barcelona.
But the two, as ever, subsequently resolved their disagreements internally and he says this is something that Leclerc must now do with Hamilton after their collision at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
Sainz said in Madrid on Thursday: “It's none of my business, but I can tell you that when you have two competitive team-mates, these kind of situations are always going to happen.
“Me with Charles, always twice, two or three times a year, we always had a bit of a discussion or an argument, but after the race or the morning after we would call each other and sort it out.
“So yeah, I think it's normal when you're fighting for podiums or wins in a competitive team and there's situations into turn one or situations fighting the race or with strategy, you always end up one day being not happy with the way it's been handled and the next day maybe you've been favoured.
“It's always the same case and I don't know the way it's being handled right now, but when I was there in Ferrari with Charles, we would always sort it out among each other and we would get on with it and yeah, we had a good time.”
Monza saw Leclerc barge Hamilton into the gravel at race start meaning the 28-year-old, who crashed into the Parabolica on lap two, kept third while the Briton dropped to 10th.
Post-race, Leclerc said both sides were to blame, claiming “we went too far”, but Hamilton sternly disagreed stating “I was ahead in Turn 2, by the apex I was ahead, there was no ‘we’ in it”.
"Look, I don't race dirty,” he added at Monza. “I've always raced clean and fairly and always left space.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Eric Le Galliot
"I've come into the team and tried to be respectful of space and definitely not put the team in jeopardy. I stand by that and all I can talk about is on my side. You have to speak to Fred [Vasseur, team principal] about the other side and decisions that are taken there.
"Ultimately it comes from the top. It trickles down, decisions. It starts with Fred. There's only so much you can say, so much you can push and shout from the mountain top.
"Yesterday, I said we've got to look at how we communicate. If we continue to travel the same path, we get the same result. We keep getting the same result."
It is just one of several examples of Hamilton being critical of Ferrari’s execution this year as the race prior to Monza - Zandvoort - saw him angered by a lack of team orders when on Leclerc’s tail.
Hamilton ultimately felt it harmed his chances of a podium, ultimately crossing the line in fourth, and all of this has left Ferrari 122 points behind his former team Mercedes in the championship.
"I think it comes down to rules of engagement," said Hamilton in Italy. "When I was at Mercedes, we had a written rule of engagement.
“We never really had it too bad. Maybe moments with me and Nico [Rosberg] a couple of times. But more often than not it was good. Here, there are no rules.”
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