Spanish racing driver and the first winner of Gran Turismo organised GT Academy Luca Ordonez has called for Carlos Sainz to receive “more respect” from Ferrari given that he’s beating their “golden boy”.
Sainz currently sits ahead of Ferrari “prodigy” Charles Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship by nine points, ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
On the whole, Sainz has been the better of the two Ferrari drivers this season, with the 28-year-old having been more consistent.
Neither driver at the Maranello-based team has been fantastic, with both having made errors this season.
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However, it’s Sainz who currently has the edge over Leclerc, in what is the third year of the duo being team-mates.
Given that Leclerc is viewed as the driver to win Ferrari a title, he’s actually on track to be defeated by Sainz in the standings for the second time since 2021.
Leclerc ended 2022 ahead of Sainz, but it was the Spaniard who claimed intra-team honours in 2021 and is set to do so in 2023 currently.
As a result, Ordonez wants to see his fellow Spaniard receive more “recognition” for his performances, and for beating “the pretty boy”.
“Until Sainz arrived, Leclerc had won everything. Since he started in karts, he has swept GP3 and Formula 2,” Ordonez told Marca.
“He was the pretty boy, a prodigy, and we forget very quickly that this year, like in 2021, Sainz is ahead of Leclerc in the World Championship.
“The pressure from Maranello is very great. Carlos Sainz deserves recognition and more respect from the team.”
Whilst Sainz is ahead of Leclerc in the standings, he’s behind the sport’s only other Spanish driver, Fernando Alonso.
Alonso sits third in the Drivers’ Championship and 54 points ahead of Sainz after 10 races, whilst he’s also claimed six podiums for Aston Martin this season.
Sainz is actually yet to finish on the rostrum, something Leclerc has done twice.
The Ferrari driver does need a rostrum badly in the coming races, whereas Alonso is on the hunt for his first win since 2013.
Ordonez insists that the Spanish people “are not happy” with neither of their native drivers having won this season yet; however, the 2009 GT Academy winner does recognise that Alonso “has returned to be with the best”.
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“We have two Spanish drivers in Q3 at each grand prix and we are not happy. We are very demanding, but it happens in all sports. If Rafa Nadal doesn’t win two tournaments, the world falls,” he said.
“You have to be aware of what Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz achieve each race. Fernando must have had a really hard time in the years that he did not have a competitive car and he has shown what a great driver he is.
“He is a leader, an extraordinary driver which also motivates the whole team and after disconnecting from F1 winning at Le Mans or Daytona , he has returned to be with the best.”