Motor racing-Leclerc clears the air with Sainz after Vegas rant
By Alan Baldwin
DOHA, Nov 28 (Reuters) -Charles Leclerc said he had cleared the air with Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz after turning it blue with a radio rant at the end of last Saturday's Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The Monegasque, who finished fourth after being overtaken by Sainz, reacted with fury and lots of swearing after the chequered flag.
He was earlier assured Sainz had been told not to pass or put him under pressure.
While the positions made no difference to the constructors' standings, Leclerc is fighting McLaren's Lando Norris for second overall after Red Bull's Max Verstappen sealed his fourth championship in Las Vegas.
Sainz has two more race weekends with Ferrari before leaving for Williams in 2025, with seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton replacing him.
"I don't want to go back to what happened in Vegas," Leclerc told reporters on Thursday ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix weekend.
"Whatever happened in Vegas, we discussed about it and we are all good, which is the most important thing. I have no doubts about that because we've always had a really good relationship with Carlos.
"We've had races where sometimes things don't go exactly the way we want but the most important thing is we discuss about it and we go forward.
"It's very clear for both of us that we just want to win the constructors'," he added. "It's by working as team that we'll achieve that and I'm sure there won't be any problems with it."
Ferrari are 24 points behind leaders McLaren with 103 remaining to be won, the amount available in Qatar being boosted by a Saturday sprint.
The Italian team have not won any title since their constructors' success in 2008.
"Sometimes I have overstepped the lines and sometimes he did, and then it only requires a discussion between us two and we look ourselves in the eye," said Leclerc.
"We know each other since a very long time now. We understand each other very, very quickly so I have no doubts. Sometimes we need these kind of things to reset a little bit," he added.
Leclerc expected Qatar to be a more difficult weekend for Ferrari but said he and Sainz would do everything possible.
"I have no doubts that going into the last two races of the season there won't be any problems whatsoever," he added.
"At the end its in the benefit for both of us to try and win that. We know that an opportunity like that doesn't happen very often and we've got to do absolutely everything on both of our sides in order to try and win that."
Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar
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