Leclerc denies bromance claim: Sainz ‘not my girlfriend’

Charles Leclerc has weighed in on Carlos Sainz's exit from the Ferrari team, asserting he will not “miss him like crazy”.

Sainz took part in his last race with Ferrari in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, scoring a podium in his final outing for the Maranello-based squad.

The Spaniard will switch to Williams next year having been ousted in favour of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.

Leclerc and Sainz are known to have shared a friendship during their time spent together at Ferrari - but Leclerc denied he has been left devastated by the 30-year-old's exit from the team.

“On one hand, it’s not like I’m going to miss him like crazy because he will still be in the paddock, maybe 20 metres away,” Leclerc told media including RacingNews365.

“So as I’ve said it for Fred [Vasseur], Carlos isn’t my girlfriend either.

“And so I really like Carlos, but I’m sure we’ll spend still a lot of time together. 

“We have a really good relationship that will stay there even after our relationship within Ferrari.”

Although their working partnership has come to a conclusion, Leclerc asserted the pair will remain friends.

“Yeah, we won’t be working any more together, but we’ll still spend time together,” he said.

“But he is a good person and we get along very, very well. That helps us to work together very well.”