The pointed note that starts Ferrari's Leclerc vs Sainz era

Ferrari is starting its post-Sebastian Vettel age by welcoming Carlos Sainz in alongside Charles Leclerc. But while Sainz has a tough challenge to match his new teammate, Ferrari is also sending a message that previous intra-team spats must end

Alex Kalinauckas Mar 2, 2021, 10:04 AM

Upd: Mar 2, 2021, 3:10 PM

It was intriguing to watch Antonio Felix da Costa and Jean-Eric Vergne collide during the second Formula E race in Riyadh last weekend and wonder how their DS Techeetah team had not solved its teammate racing tensions.

Rewind 12 months and the sparks of a flashpoint were already flying after Vergne had aggressively edged his teammate towards a wall in Santiago before a team orders flare up occurred in Mexico City. DST went on to secure a second title double come the end of that marvellous run of Berlin races, with da Costa extending its run of drivers' titles to three, and all was well. Until, again, it wasn't last weekend.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.