Ferrari addresses Sainz team radio outburst over issue

Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has addressed the outburst from Carlos Sainz during the São Paulo Grand Prix, after losing positions at the start of the race.

Sainz dropped down from seventh to 13th after a poor launch, with clutch issues being a long-standing problem for Ferrari, but something it is unable to fix in-season.

Over the radio, Sainz quipped: “I just hope we bin this clutch, as soon as we’re back in Maranello."

He managed to recover to sixth after overtaking Lewis Hamilton and George Russell midway through the race, taking home eight points and closing the gap between Ferrari and Mercedes in the Constructors' Championship to 20 points, as Vasseur brushed off any concerns over the comments.

Vasseur has explained that Ferrari will take a look at the faulty clutch, after later complaining that the left gear shift paddle with "sticking" while going through the gears.

“On the first start he had a false start, we need to understand exactly what’s happened on the first one,” Vasseur told media, including RacingNews365.

"We are struggling a little bit with the start and but it's marginal. If you have a look on the second one, this new one went pretty well."

Sainz's reliability troubles come during the same race that team-mate Charles Leclerc crashed out on the formation lap due to an electronics failure, which caused both the engine hydraulics and power steering to shut down.