Leclerc confirms clear the air talks with Sainz after Las Vegas rant

Charles Leclerc said he has cleared the air with Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz ahead of this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix.

Leclerc was left furious after Sainz overtook the Monegasque driver for the final place on the podium at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, despite being told to hold his position.

The 27-year-old vented his frustrations to his team in an explosive rant on the team radio, missing out on valuable points to close the gap to Lando Norris in the drivers' standings.

And while not keen to dwell on last Sunday, Leclerc said he and Sainz had talked about what happened and there were no problems between them.

"I don't want to go back to what happened in Vegas," said Leclerc.

"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 and whatever happened in Vegas we discussed it.

"I have a really good relationship with Carlos, and we've sometimes had races where things don't go exactly the way we want, but the most important thing is that we discuss it, and we go forward.

"It's very clear for both of us that we just want to win the constructors' and it's by working as a team that we achieve that. I'm sure there won't be any problems with it."

Signing out from the strip #LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/5t7RIPeHGH
— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) November 24, 2024

This weekend's penultimate round at the Lusail International Circuit marks a huge one for the Scuderia in their quest for their first constructors' title since 2008.

Ferrari find themselves 24 points behind McLaren at this stage of the season, but have reason to be confident in their two drivers who have impressed so far this campaign.

Leclerc has now finished on the podium 11 times in 2024. If he achieves one more, it will be the Monegasque's best year on the podium in Formula 1 (also 11 in 2022).

With his fourth place finish in Las Vegas, Leclerc is already enjoying the best season of his career in terms of points scored (319, surpassing 308 in 2022).

Sainz, meanwhile, has 26 podiums in his Formula 1 career, eight of which have come in 2024. If he gets himself into the top three once again this time around, he will equal his best year in the competition (nine in 2022).