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The 1996 Formula One World Champion Damon Hill feels that Scuderia Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz Jr. is more of a leader among the two drivers. Hill justified his statement by pointing out how Sainz seems more acquainted with the team strategy and his decisions making.
The British driver addressed “Charles is clearly quick”, but said, “Carlos has struck me as actually the more of the team leader. He seems to be more familiar with the strategy, seems to be able to make decisions.”
He also feels the Prancing Horse has a lot of untapped potentials which could be fulfilled only if they could iron out their problems. “The potential is huge with Ferrari, and I think that if they can fix these problems they really will be a threat,” Hill said. “If they can do that between now and the end of the season, then it could be a very close finish to the championship.”
Hill also believes that Ferrari really needs some form of luck going their way if they want to compete with Red Bull. He also reviewed Leclrec’s performance in the French GP and expressed that the Monegasque driver was ‘under pressure’ because of Max Verstappen.
The 61-year-old said, “He was under pressure because Max Verstappen had just pitted for new tyres, so I think he probably thought to himself ‘I need to get a push on here because we’re probably going to come in for a pit stop soon’, and maybe just overcooked it. If Max Verstappen has some bad luck, which is not impossible, they’ve had some reliability issues, then the gap could close. But it is looking very much like Ferrari have thrown it away.”
Verstappen finished on top after the 2022 French Grand Prix for Red Bull as Ferrari's Charles Leclerc crashed out of the race on Lap 18. This blunder by the Prancing Horse driver helped the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell get a double podium at Paul Ricard. Prancing Horse still finished a consolation price as Carlos Sainz bagged the fastest lap.