Sainz divulges 'pumped up' Leclerc talks in F1 title pursuit

Carlos Sainz has revealed that both himself and team-mate Charles Leclerc are motivating each other to bring home the constructors' title for Ferrari.

The Italian squad has taken steps to clinching its first world championship since 2008 at recent races.

Last time out at the Mexico City Grand Prix, its double podium finish - which included the win for Sainz - saw it overtake Red Bull for second place in the standings.

It now sits just 29 points down on leaders McLaren with four rounds remaining in the season.

With Ferrari having won three out of the last five races, Sainz asserted confidence the team can take control of the title fight before the end of the campaign.

“I think we both believe it is possible and we are actually talking about it more and more often now,” Sainz told media including RacingNews365.

“We pump each other up a bit, knowing that there's a chance and we are like, ‘yeah, come on’.

“We have a good relationship and I think we both know there is a chance and we both know we are in a good moment in our driving, the way we're driving.”

Sainz highlights Ferrari F1 advantage

Red Bull has often been fighting solo this year with Max Verstappen, as Sergio Perez has struggled for form behind the wheel of the RB20.

McLaren also was handicapped in Mexico as a disastrous qualifying for Oscar Piastri saw him start the race towards the back of the field.

Sainz highlighted having two drivers in contention at the front of the field has been crucial to Ferrari's late charge - and will remain so going forward.

“One of the keys is going to be consistency and having the two drivers always up there,” Sainz said. 

“This weekend, we did a really good job on that on a tricky track where you could see Q1 and Q2 was a bit of chaos and anything could go right or wrong. 

“So we just need to keep ourselves in that fight. And as Charles said, don't get obsessed with it because it's not like it depends only on us. 

“We also, given how fast McLaren is, depend a bit on them. But we're going to keep doing the best we can and keep pumping each other up to win it.”