FILE PHOTO: Formula One F1 - Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan - April 6, 2025 Ferrari's Charles Leclerc waves to the crowd during the drivers parade before the race as Williams' Carlos Sainz Jr. looks on REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
(Reuters) -Former Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz rented a van and went on a road trip home to Monaco after their flight from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix landed in Italy due to bad weather.
Leclerc, who finished a disappointing ninth in Sunday's race in Baku while Sainz was third in Williams' first proper Formula One podium since 2017, posted a viral video of the impromptu trip on Instagram.
"So after a very difficult weekend in Baku I thought it couldn't get any worse but...," Leclerc intoned in darkness before the camera panned around to show his vehicle entering a tunnel.
Sainz, at the wheel, picked up the story: "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.
"A two-hour drive, we will make it in one hour and a half," joked the Spaniard, who lost his seat at Ferrari to seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton at the end of last year.
Hamilton has yet to stand on the podium with his new team in 17 races.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
