Las Vegas GP: Charles Leclerc slams Carlos Sainz in expletive-laden exchange

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border-left:1px solid #eee;"> <a href="/core/sports?device=featurephone&device=featurephone" id="sportsButton"> F1 <span class="caret"><img src="https://a.espncdn.com/redesign/assets/img/featurephone/caret-closed.png"></span> </a> </td> </tr> </table> <table class="menu espn" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#ffffff" style="background-color: #ffffff;"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="5" height="8"></td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td width="2%"> </td> <td width="32%"><a href="/f1/?device=featurephone" class="active">News</a></td> <td width="2%"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="5" height="8"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="4"></td> <td height="4" class="active-item"></td> <td height="4"></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table class="story" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"> <tr> <td width="8"></td> <td>  <table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"> <tr> <td height="8"></td> </tr> <tr height="24"> <td align="left"> <span class="author">Nate Saunders<span>, General Editor, F1 </span></span> </td> <td align="right"> <span class="date"> <span class="timestamp">8h</span> </span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2"> <h1>Las Vegas GP: Charles Leclerc slams Carlos Sainz in expletive-laden exchange</h1> </td> </tr> <tr height="32"> <td colspan="2"> <a href="/f1/?device=featurephone" data-mptype="category">Formula One</a>, <a href="/core/racing/?device=featurephone" data-mptype="category">AutoRacing</a> </tr> </table> <table class="social" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="20" height="20"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dialog/share?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.espn.co.uk%2Ff1%2Fstory%2F_%2Fid%2F42578559%2Fcharles%2Dleclerc%2Dslams%2Dcarlos%2Dsainz%2Dheated%2Dexchange&app_id=116656161708917" target="_blank"><img src="https://a.espncdn.com/redesign/assets/img/featurephone/share-icon-fb.png" width="20"></a> </td> <td width="20" height="20"> <a href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?lang=en&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.espn.co.uk%2Ff1%2Fstory%2F_%2Fid%2F42578559%2Fcharles%2Dleclerc%2Dslams%2Dcarlos%2Dsainz%2Dheated%2Dexchange&text=Leclerc%20slams%20Ferrari,%20Sainz%20in%20expletive%2Dladen%20rant" target="_blank"><img src="https://a.espncdn.com/redesign/assets/img/featurephone/share-icon-tw.png" width="20"></a> </td> <td width="20" height="20"> <a href="whatsapp://send?text=Leclerc%20slams%20Ferrari%2C%20Sainz%20in%20expletive-laden%20rant%20website%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.espn.co.uk%2Ff1%2Fstory%2F_%2Fid%2F42578559%2Fcharles-leclerc-slams-carlos-sainz-heated-exchange" target="_blank"><img src="https://a.espncdn.com/redesign/assets/img/featurephone/wapp.png" width="20"></a> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"> <tr> <td colspan="2"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="16"></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="1" bgcolor="#cccccc" style="background-color: #cccccc"></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="16"></td> </tr> <tr class="content"> <td colspan="2"> <p>LAS VEGAS - Charles Leclerc launched an astonishing expletive-laden rant against Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.</p><p>Leclerc finished in fourth, one place behind Sainz after the pair swapped positions throughout the race.</p><p>At a crucial point in their respective races, Sainz passed Leclerc shortly after the latter had exited from a pit-stop.</p><p>As Leclerc came out of the pits after his second stop, race engineer Bryan Bozzi advised him that Sainz was not far behind.</p><p>"Carlos has been told to not overtake but it's really close, he might be just in front," Bozzi said. He then gave him another message: "He has been told to not put you under pressure so just take care of your tyres."</p><p>At that same moment, Sainz passed Leclerc on the right hand side.</p><p>On the radio channel, there was a brief static noise as Leclerc appeared to open and then close his radio channel.</p><p>A little while later, he replied: "Maybe try in Spanish"</p><p>After the race, Leclerc raged at Ferrari.</p><p>The following exchange took place between Leclerc and Bozzi, who started by instructing him to pick up rubber on his tyres, as is customary for an in-lap back to the pits.</p><p>At the end of the exchange, Leclerc appeared to realise he had left his radio on.</p><p>Bozzi: "Pick up, please."</p><p>Leclerc: "Yes. Whatever you want. As always."</p><p>Bozzi: "Charles, you did your job, OK. Thank you."</p><p>Leclerc: "Yeah. [laughing] Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I did my job, but being nice f---s me over all the f---ing time, all the f---ing time. It's not even being nice, it's just being respectful. I know I need to shut up but..."</p><p>Bozzi: "Charles, Charles...."</p><p>Leclerc: "...At one point it's always the same. So. Ahhh my f---ing God."</p><p>Bryan: "OK. But anyway... you did the right thing for the team. And pick up please."</p><p>Leclerc: "Yeah, yeah. F---ing pick up what the f--- we want. And the radio is on. I'm sorry. That was, not me."</p><p>Onboard shot then showed Leclerc hitting his steering wheel with both hands as he continued driving back to the pits.</p><p>Leclerc did not talk much about the incident post race.</p><p>Speaking to Sky Italy in the media pen later, Sainz said: "I agreed not to talk to the media because we always talk here, we always make a mess. I agreed with him not to say anything to the media."</p><p>When asked if they didn't need to talk it out, he added: "No, no. It's stuff between me and him. I never open the radio, I never talk to the media because I don't like it. It's not a nice thing to do. It's not necessary."</p><p>When told Sainz had said the two of them were collaborating better than ever, and then asked whether he agreed, Leclerc simply replied: "Yes."</p><p>Leclerc then hinted that he had let Sainz past him earlier in the race without instruction from the team.</p><p>"I think I did it on the first straight and I didn't even have the message from the team. I said it on the radio that I will do it."</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="16"></td> </tr> </table>  </td> <td width="8"></td> </tr> </table> <a class="back-to-top" href="#top">^ Back to Top ^</a> <table class="footer" border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr align="center"> <td class="copyright"> <font size="1">© 2024 ESPN Internet Ventures. <a href="http://disneytermsofuse.com/" target="_blank">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="https://disneyprivacycenter.com/" target="_blank">Privacy Policy and Safety Information / Your California Privacy Rights</a> are applicable to you. 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Las Vegas GP: Charles Leclerc slams Carlos Sainz in expletive-laden exchange - ESPN