Carlos Sainz breaks down how fighting with Charles Leclerc during 'crazy' Chinese GP cost Ferrari

With the scarlet duo tripping over each other, Sainz explained how it increased their workload during the race.

It was a bit of a crazy race. What we did at the start cost both Charles and I one or two positions and that cost us a lot in the race. Then we tried to follow the Mercedes, we tried to overtake him but he stopped and then we stopped, we put the hard tyres on very early. Carlos Sainz said in an interview with DAZN

After being forced out wide by the 26-year-old, the pair of Sainz and Monegasque was stuck behind a slower George Russell. This caused the duo to lose time in relation to the leaders, which ultimately cost the team precious points in the constructors’ standing and a chance at the podium.

Carlos Sainz claims a fifth-place finish was the maximum he could have achieved

The Spaniard was predicted to be the lead Ferrari at the Chinese Grand Prix. However, a botched qualifying session and tough competition from his teammate meant that things were not going to be easy for him. Moreover, after finishing fifth on the road, Sainz claimed that it was the best that he could have achieved under the peculiar circumstances.

The former three-time race winner was underwhelmed with the SF-24’s performance.

Then the timing of the Safety Car wasn’t ideal because everyone could put a new tyre [on] in front of me, and I was left with a very old tyre for the last stint and I had to nurse the tyre home for a P5. Considering all of this, I think P5 today was the maximum, so not too bad. On top of that, we qualified behind and we got in trouble in the first lap, then there’s no chance we’re going to beat them. We need to do better next time. Carlos Sainz said in an interview with F1

Sainz elaborated that the safety car ruined his race as it was called out at the wrong time in relation to the Ferrari’s strategy. This posed severe challenges for Sainz as he was now in the clutches of lower drivers behind him and thus had to gamble on a one-stopper to safeguard his track position. The story was pretty much the same with Leclerc as well.

This led the Spniard to feel dejected and claimed that he and Leclerc would have to do better next time and not trip over each other to maximize their points during a Grand Prix weekend. However, the feud between both drivers is still not resolved and the intra-team rivalry at Ferrari will surely reach new levels in the upcoming events.