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Leclerc Crashes, Sainz Podiums—Then Drives Him To Monaco

Leclerc’s rough Baku gets a coda: a Genoa diversion, a rented van, and Sainz at the wheel

Charles Leclerc has had better Sundays. He put his Ferrari in the wall at Turn 15 in Q3, started 10th, slogged to ninth, and spent most of the post-race chatter shrugging off a bout of team-order static with Lewis Hamilton. He figured that was the end of it. Then the storm hit.

The flight out of Baku carrying Leclerc and Carlos Sainz was diverted to Genoa, stranding the pair somewhere between a bruising race weekend and home in Monaco. So they did what any self-respecting F1 drivers would do: they rented a van. Sainz drove. Of course he did.

The former Ferrari teammates still travel together more often than not, and this time the roles were clear. Leclerc filmed, Sainz grinned, and the Williams podium finisher—yes, that still sounds strange—informed the camera they were “in the middle of Italy,” aiming for Monaco, insisting a two-hour drive would be… brisk. Leclerc protested. The internet loved it.

It was the most relatable end to a wildly contrasting weekend for the pair. On Saturday, a light sprinkle and a pair of red flags turned Q3 into a lottery. Leclerc triggered the first red himself with that Turn 15 kiss of concrete, leaving him without a lap on the board and mired in P10. Sainz, though, planted the Williams on the front row—his best start of the season—and then turned it into his first podium for the team 24 hours later with a polished drive to third.

Leclerc, by contrast, collected two points and not much joy. Ferrari’s pace vanished when it mattered, the radios got political, and his cooldown tone suggested a man with bigger worries than whether Hamilton had followed a delta. It was that sort of weekend.

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The van, at least, delivered a bit of gallows humour. And in the paddock, Leclerc made a point of finding Sainz to congratulate him. The respect between them hasn’t dimmed since their Ferrari days, and Leclerc’s message was straightforward: this wasn’t about speed suddenly appearing at Williams, it was about luck finally getting out of the way.

“He’s been so unlucky since the beginning of the year,” Leclerc said, happy to see the tide turn. On Sunday in Baku, Sainz kept his nose clean and collected the hardware his season’s grind has deserved.

The results matter, too. That third place nudged Sainz up to 12th in the standings on 31 points, while teammate Alex Albon sits on 70. Together they’ve given Williams real air over Racing Bulls in the Constructors’ fight for fifth, the gap now 29 points. For a team that spent 2024 rebuilding its foundations and 2025 trying to cash in on a cleaner operation, that’s not a footnote—that’s the brief.

And the symbolism of the podium shouldn’t be lost on anyone. A Williams driver in blue overalls on the rostrum, taking the microphone and fielding the questions, while the other half of Ferrari’s superstar pairing trudged through a forgettable day? It’s a snapshot of how volatile this season’s midfield has become, and how ruthless Baku can be when you’re an inch off.

The social clip was the perfect postscript. Two drivers with very different Sundays, jammed into a rental, laughing their way through a tunnel somewhere on the Italian coast. There’s something grounding about it, especially after a race weekend that had a bit of everything—sprinkles, shunts, strategy squabbles, and a Williams on merit in the top three.

Leclerc will reset. Ferrari will pore over the data and argue about deltas in private. Sainz will head back to Grove with a trophy that’ll sit nicely in the new-era cabinet. And if they end up sharing another flight next time and the weather kicks off? Well, it’s good to know who’s got the keys.

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