Carlos Sainz more of a leader at Ferrari than Charles Leclerc, Damon Hill claims

While Leclerc crashed out at the French Grand Prix, Sainz stayed on track when originally instructed to head into the pit lane

Carlos Sainz has developed into more of a “team leader” at Ferrari than teammate Charles Leclerc, according to 1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill.

Leclerc, who won his third race of the season in Austria two weeks ago, crashed out of the French Grand Prix while leading on lap 18 in what he later simply admitted as a “mistake” in losing the rear of the car.

Sainz, meanwhile, progressed from the back of the grid and opted to stay out on track whilst fighting for a podium place with Sergio Perez, despite calls from the Ferrari pit wall for him to come into the pits, with a five-second penalty also needing to be adhered to.

The Spaniard overtook the Red Bull driver before later coming into the pit lane, eventually finishing fifth, but Hill told Sky Sports’ Any Driven Monday show that Sainz has not shied away from making calls himself out on track.

“Carlos has struck me as actually the more of the team leader,” said Hill. “He seems to be more familiar with the strategy, seems to be able to make decisions.”

Sainz also rallied against his engineer at the British Grand Prix, a decision which proved fruitful as he claimed his first win in Formula 1, yet confusion from the Ferrari pit wall summed up a frustrating day for the Scuderia at Paul Ricard on Sunday.

“I think they’re [Ferrari] a little bit halfway up the stairs,” Hill added. “Someone needs to take charge and say, ‘okay, we’re making a decision’. And it’s either the driver or it’s the strategist, clear direction.”

“The potential is huge with Ferrari, and I think that if they can fix these problems they really will be a threat. If they can do that between now and the end of the season, then it could be a very close finish to the championship.”

Ferrari will be targeting a return to the podium in Budapest this weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the final race before the summer break.