The Las Vegas Grand Prix was supposed to be Ferrari’s night to shine. With the fast-paced street circuit favoring their car’s strengths, the team had every reason to feel confident. But instead, chaos unfolded in the Ferrari garage. Mercedes snatched the pole position, and worse, Carlos Sainz, who looked poised to challenge for the win, found himself at the center of a pit stop debacle, but it was Charles Leclerc who paid the ultimate price.

As Lewis Hamlin led the charge in the second half of the race, Charles Leclerc faced the consequences of the team’s botched pit stop attempt for Carlos Sainz, as the Spaniard ignored team orders and overtook the Monegasque driver.

Ferrari’s pit stop problems cause trouble for Charles Leclerc once again

The race started out quite well for Charles Leclerc. With a cheeky move at Turn 1 on the first lap Charles Leclerc had second place secured. However, the battle with George Russell took a heavy toll on his tires. Ferrari made the call and in came Charles Leclerc, followed by Carlos Sainz a few laps later for their first round of pit stops. Things went smoothly until the second round when Sainz got the call to pit while Charles Leclerc was free to go ahead.

Adding fuel to the fire, Sainz didn’t hold back his frustration. The Spaniard, running strong in the top pack, had been told to pit mid-race. As he approached the pit lane, Ferrari abruptly canceled the stop, leaving him furious. “What happened?” Sainz demanded over the radio, only to hear that the team wasn’t ready. His biting response, “Wake up, guys!” summed up the night’s disarray.

Meanwhile, his teammate Charles Leclerc unexpectedly gained an edge in the race. Leclerc’s pit stops went as smoothly as could be, and he cruised ahead while Sainz was left clamoring for position behind him. While his pit drama didn’t result in penalties—despite narrowly avoiding a pit-entry violation—he faced another hurdle on track. Because Sainz lost a place to Leclerc due to the bad call, the Spaniard unleashed his fury and upped his pace by quite a bit.

Charles Leclerc couldn’t keep up and came under constant threat from his teammate behind him The team told Sainz to hold position and avoid attacking Leclerc, a directive that did not sit well with the feisty Spaniard.

Sainz wasn’t one to back down. Ignoring team orders, he launched a bold attack and overtook Leclerc just two laps later. The move triggered a cheeky response from Leclerc, who quipped over the radio, “Maybe try in Spanish,” clearly irked by his teammate’s defiance. By Lap 45, Sainz was back in P3, leaving Leclerc trailing in P4 and tensions simmering in the Ferrari camp.

Ferrari receive radio rant over the incident

The drama in the Ferrari garage reached its peak when Charles Leclerc let loose on the team radio after losing third place to Carlos Sainz in Las Vegas. Frustration boiled over as Leclerc unloaded on race engineer Bryan Bozzi. “Yeah, I did my job. But being nice f**ks me all the f**king time,” Leclerc fumed. His rant didn’t stop there. “I know I need to shut up, but at one point, it’s always the same so…Oh my f**king god,” he added, leaving no doubt about his feelings.

Interestingly, Bozzi tried to calm the situation, saying, “Okay, but anyway you did the right thing for the team.” But Leclerc wasn’t having it. His heated reply came swiftly: “F**king pick up what the f**k you want.” This latest outburst is just another chapter in the rivalry between Leclerc and Sainz. Earlier this season at the Spanish Grand Prix, Leclerc wasn’t happy with Sainz’s aggressive moves, prompting Sainz to clap back, “It’s too many times that he complains after the race about something.” The cracks in their relationship have only widened since. Even in qualifying at Silverstone, the duo clashed again. Leclerc sarcastically remarked, “Nice Carlos, nice, good overtake in the last corner,” after feeling his teammate ruined his flying lap.

It’s only a matter of time before Sainz moves out of the team and into the Williams seat. With only two races to go, the problems at Ferrari are too difficult to ignore. Sure, Carlos Sainz will be out of the team, but in his place will be Lewis Hamilton. If Charles Leclerc thought having a teammate who doesn’t work well with team orders was difficult with Carlos Sainz, how will he fare with Lewis Hamilton? Although the 7-time World Champion does well to work with the team, his aim is to win his 8th title.

Only time will tell what happens in the Ferrari garage. What’s certain is errors such as this one in pit stop calls will only add to their troubles in the seasons to come.