Storm diverts flight of F1 drivers Sainz and Leclerc, forcing them to drive
Duo left stranded by weather after Azerbaijan Grand Prix, so decide to hire a van to get home
After driving to a surprise podium finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz Jnr was back behind the wheel hours later. This time, in a rented van with fellow F1 driver Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc just wanted to get home to Monaco after a frustrating weekend that included a crash in qualifying and a ninth-place finish. The weather got in the way, forcing the two drivers’ flight to divert from Nice, France, to Italy.
“So, after a very difficult weekend in Baku, I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but...” Leclerc said in a video posted on Instagram, turning the camera to show his former Ferrari teammate Sainz at the wheel in a tunnel.
Sainz, whose third place in Sunday’s race was the Williams team’s best result in four years, said: “We were diverted for a storm. We couldn’t land in Nice, so we landed in the middle of Italy, we rented a van and now we are on our way to Monaco.”
He then appeared to joke about speeding up to get home quicker, only for Leclerc to object.