How Ferrari will 'dictate' driver seniority in new season

Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc — Photo: © LAT Images

Ferrari

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How Ferrari will 'dictate' driver seniority in new season

Sainz finished ahead of Leclerc in 2021

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Saturday 8 January 2022 14:20

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto has confirmed Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will be treated as equals this year but insisted the team's policy could change depending on championship position.

Leclerc was put into a team leader role last year as Sainz acclimatised to the Scuderia following his move from McLaren after the 2020 season.

Despite his new surroundings, however, Sainz was able to beat Leclerc and both McLaren drivers to secure the 'best of the rest' spot of fifth in the standings.

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With Ferrari hopeful of a championship charge during the upcoming season in which F1 rule changes are likely to shake up the order, Binotto was asked, in a media briefing including GPFans, whether clear outlines of number one and two drivers had been discussed.

"In terms of drivers, as we often say, that it is on the track that we dictated it," insisted Binotto.

"The first priority is always the team, but no doubt these can compete for an important position in the championships. It will be the track that will tell who's ahead.

"Sometimes I think it's not only about driver talent and driver capacity. A driver can be unfortunate and have damage or reliability issues, crashes.

"Certainly, we will not have a policy of number one and number two, but we simply discuss it based on positions on track whenever it will be done."

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