[ 2020 ] Scuderia Ferrari - Ferrari

[GPR-A]

Leclerc receiving a 5 year extension to his contract must make him the world's most bankable number 2 then. Better even than Barrichello.

I guess so. A guy who won a WDC got fired due his lack of performance in the next 2 years. This is Ferrari. The guy who was brought in as No.1 guaranteed, couldn't win a title and they have dumped him now. The guy who they hired last year, having declared No.2 is suddenly their No.1. Who is to say he is not the new Kimi? Contracts are just a bunch of papers.

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Agreed, this is Ferrari, there is precedent.

That said, signing a 5 year extension with the person who pushed out the de-facto #1, that individual being 22 years old, a Ferrari insider, and with a superior record to Sainz strongly suggest, if nothing else, Ferrari's expectations.

As you point out, Ferrari have been wrong (frequently). Popular opinion can also be wrong. For the sake of our entertainment, it would be great if Sainz proves to be competitive with Leclerc.

Realistically, I don't see that happening, unless you define 'competitive' as the competition Vettel faced from Raikkonen.

Whether Sainz is a match to Leclerc OR better than him OR worse than him, time would tell us. But there is one thing that is good for Ferrari. They don't have a Champion in their car who can dictate the terms or demand No.1 status and neither are other top F1 teams are dying to hire either of them. That makes Binotto the real boss and would allow him to strongly dictate terms to these two, who, at this stage of their careers, are more willing to comply with team first situation until they prove themselves worthy of an instant call for other top teams.

[Just_a_fan]

They don't have a Champion in their car who can dictate the terms or demand No.1 status and neither are other top F1 teams are dying to hire either of them. That makes Binotto the real boss and would allow him to strongly dictate terms to these two, who, at this stage of their careers, are more willing to comply with team first situation until they prove themselves worthy of an instant call for other top teams.

That can be a good thing - it makes the team the boss of the drivers as you say - but it also means the drivers will fight each other very hard in the early season in order to be able to say "I'm the guy you should back for the rest of the season". That can mean they come together on track as they don't want to give way to each other. That's going to require some very good management to ensure the results don't suffer.

[Andres125sx]

Sainz is a team player, he's proved it even when his teammate wasn't.

Also, he's only achieved 1 podium yet but, how many podiums achieved best car he's driven so far?

I don't think he will beat lecrerc sincerely, but he will score a lot of points and if Charles have some problems, he'll be there for sure. I think Ferrari have an extremely strong pairing now

[godlameroso]

People in the know all rate Sainz very highly. I'd say he's Alonso lite. Perhaps slightly better qualifier, but has that same relentless pace. The only place I could see him improving is his starts and the decisions he makes around other cars. Alonso just had that killer instinct at the starts and would rarely make mistakes or get in trouble on the first lap(not to say it never happened, but his gambles payed off more often than not).

[Andres125sx]

Sure is a big jump for Sainz who wasn't the favorite at the Red Bull stable and got replaced at Renault after largely shadowing Hulkenberg.
And even against a rookie(however highly rated that rookie is) he didn't look dominant.

Sainz scored double the points of Lando but in your opinion that didn´t look dominant?

[Macklaren]

Sure is a big jump for Sainz who wasn't the favorite at the Red Bull stable and got replaced at Renault after largely shadowing Hulkenberg.
And even against a rookie(however highly rated that rookie is) he didn't look dominant.

Sainz scored double the points of Lando but in your opinion that didn´t look dominant?

Make no mistake I'm a big Sainz fan but quali went to Lando 11-10. In the races, many times Lando was given an inferior strategy since Carlos was the #1 driver. While Carlos did have bad luck and didn't score points in the first 3 races, Lando lost his best finish of P5 when he had to retire on the last lap. Carlos was clearly the better racer but I don't think was dominant and Lando may actually have had better one-lap speed.

[ringo]

Agreed Carlos is not a strong qualifier, but Ferrari have Charles, who was faster than Vettel. Also Sainz has never really underperformed in qualifying in the car. So he will do about average with the Ferrari and that is a little better than Kimi. So once the car is a front 3 row car he will put it there. So not a big problem to have. His strength is his consistency and intelligence and team building attitude. I can see him being at Ferrari for many years to come.

[Ringleheim]

Agreed Carlos is not a strong qualifier, but Ferrari have Charles, who was faster than Vettel. Also Sainz has never really underperformed in qualifying in the car. So he will do about average with the Ferrari and that is a little better than Kimi. So once the car is a front 3 row car he will put it there. So not a big problem to have. His strength is his consistency and intelligence and team building attitude. I can see him being at Ferrari for many years to come.

Leclerc wasn't always faster than Vettel! Anyone who thinks Sainz is a solid replacement for Vettel is crazy. And don't get me wrong, I'm quite happy Vettel is leaving the team. But it is a drop-off from 2020 Vettel to 2021 Sainz.

Wish they could have gotten Ricciardo. Wonder what happened with that.

[Jolle]

Sainz isn't replacing Vettel. Leclerc is. Sainz is now part of the Leclerc on track support team.

[Sevach]

Sure is a big jump for Sainz who wasn't the favorite at the Red Bull stable and got replaced at Renault after largely shadowing Hulkenberg.
And even against a rookie(however highly rated that rookie is) he didn't look dominant.

Sainz scored double the points of Lando but in your opinion that didn´t look dominant?

He scored less than that against Max and people say they were equal.

[PlatinumZealot]

Well it's gaining more momentum, Vettel retiring at the end of the season.

A shame to see, my most likeable and down to earth driver on the grid. I will miss the fella.

You have a Vettel good source. Better than mine.

[Andres125sx]

Sure is a big jump for Sainz who wasn't the favorite at the Red Bull stable and got replaced at Renault after largely shadowing Hulkenberg.
And even against a rookie(however highly rated that rookie is) he didn't look dominant.

Sainz scored double the points of Lando but in your opinion that didn´t look dominant?

He scored less than that against Max and people say they were equal.

Who said they were equal?

I always considered Max stronger, not so consistent in race pace but faster at every aspect. Also, Max for RBR (and STR obviously) is their star driver since day -1, probably from the whole grid only Hamilton rivals Max when it comes to favouritism into his team, and probably not even him. He ignored TOs repeatedly while Carlos always followed, that means some points Max scored when shouldn´t, and also that Carlos didn´t score when he should.

To me Max is much faster and a better driver overall than Carlos, but that point difference didn´t tell the whole story. And we´re talking about Max, best driver of the latest generation with Lecrerc. I think none put Carlos in that category, we all agree on that don´t we?

But since Lecrerc drives for Ferrari and Max obviously is not going to join Ferrari too, I think Carlos in one of the best drivers they can hire to replace Seb, very good even if not the fastest, a team player, consistent, friendly

[Andres125sx]

Sainz isn't replacing Vettel. Leclerc is. Sainz is now part of the Leclerc on track support team.

I´m sure that´s their idea. But I´m also sure Ferrari will not harm Carlos options to score as many points as possible while he´s on the fight for the title, and also they would fully support Carlos if Lecrerc, for whatever problem, can´t fight the title. Similar to what Mercedes did with Rosberg

TOs are team orders, best decision for the team, not for their #1, if their #2 becomes their best chance to win the title, he instantly becomes the best decision for the team and their #1

I only doubt about this with RBR, whose marketing department is the strongest in the field, and probably one of the reasons they´re one of the big three, so not a criticism

[Andres125sx]

Sure is a big jump for Sainz who wasn't the favorite at the Red Bull stable and got replaced at Renault after largely shadowing Hulkenberg.
And even against a rookie(however highly rated that rookie is) he didn't look dominant.

Sainz scored double the points of Lando but in your opinion that didn´t look dominant?

Make no mistake I'm a big Sainz fan but quali went to Lando 11-10. In the races, many times Lando was given an inferior strategy since Carlos was the #1 driver. While Carlos did have bad luck and didn't score points in the first 3 races, Lando lost his best finish of P5 when he had to retire on the last lap. Carlos was clearly the better racer but I don't think was dominant and Lando may actually have had better one-lap speed.

Can´t agree with this, they did provide equal opportunities to both with best strategy at one gp each driver. About luck, I think they both suffered similar problems, Lando lost a p5 but Carlos also had problems at some races wich look great for him. Even if Lando lost a bit more I think the final point difference is telling

[Big Tea]

I hope it is not political and they are allowed to race, at least as long as both are in the fight