Red Mist: Leclerc versus Sainz. Who gives a f@ck?

So we’d hear every moan, groan, and f@ck you they ever uttered. Lucky for them, they don’t carry a mic. Only the ref does. But in Formula 1, we hear it all. So when an F1 driver quite rightly throws his toys, then it’s all of a sudden world news.

But when they don’t pass that vital ball to Lionel Messi, or Kevin De Bruyne misses the goal off the spot, nobody has a clue what anyone besides the ref has to say. Same when Eben Etsebeth has some Englishman by the neck; we don’t know what they’re saying. Besides perhaps what we may overhear from the sideline mic.

Same goes for any civilised, modern sport. And if we do hear them say fuck, the commentator simply apologises. It’s part of the game, no?

In F1, however, the drivers are all miked up; there’s someone monitoring it all. And nowhere to hide. So when the gladiator in the car gets a bit flustered, it’s all over the papers, the web, and, God forbid, the social media too. Add a four-letter word or two, and then every know-nothing woke twat all the way up to the very top, starts jumping up and down, all around. F@ck ‘em all.

"I'm not worried at all,” Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur shrugged to media slackers all over him about the little handbag session that erupted between his two men in Vegas. See, Frederic’s a racer. He understands this kind of sh!t happens in teams. All the time. In general, it’s spur-of-the-moment crap. Just like it is in soccer, rugby, tennis, et al.

The situation Fred refers to was sparked by Sainz demanding to stop early. But the team kept him out. Then Carlos controversially aborted his stop when the team was not ready. As circumstances played out, when he did eventually stop, Sainz’ return to the track compromised Leclerc’s chance of an overcut pass on his teammate. The Spaniard simply ignored the radio call not to overtake as Leclerc exited pit lane.

Charles was clearly pissed off by the situation. He made no bones about it at the time. And again on the slow-down lap, "Yes, yes! I did my job, but being nice fucks me over all the fucking time,” the frustrated Leclerc cried in lumbering reaction to engineer Bryan Bozzi thanking him for doing a good job.

Now, of course, Leclerc, the chosen one, is fighting for second in the championship. The extra three points that Sainz scored in third would benefit Leclerc handsomely in his title battle with Lando Norris. Sainz, on the other hand, has nothing to lose. He’s out of the team in a few weeks to make way for Hamilton. With the prospect of a year or two at underdog Williams. Would you care a f@ck if you were Carlos? Me neither.

At the end of the day, Leclerc’s reaction in the heat of battle would not be very different from Messi, De Bruyne, Etsebeth, Sinner, or any top sportsman compromised in their game would. The only difference is that we seldom hear what those guys—or girls—ever say. Whereas in F1, it’s all out in the open, warts and all, all the time.

It takes a racer to understand. Fred is a racer. Like he says, it’s not at all an issue. Well, not to anyone that matters, anyway.