F1 road trip: Sainz and Leclerc drive through the night after flight home from Azerbaijan diverted

By Canadian Press on September 22, 2025.

MONACO (AP) — After driving to a surprise podium finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz, Jr. was back behind the wheel hours later. This time, in a rented van with Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc just wanted to get home to Monaco after a frustrating weekend with a crash in qualifying and a ninth-place finish. The weather got in the way, forcing the two Formula 1 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 late Sunday night, turning the camera to show his former Ferrari teammate Sainz at the wheel in a tunnel.

“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,” said Sainz, whose third place Sunday was Williams’ best result in four years.

Sainz then appeared to joke about speeding up to get home quicker, only for Leclerc to object.

“Two-hour drive, and we will make it one hour and a half,” Sainz said.

“No!” Leclerc exclaimed, and Sainz answered: “No, no, no, never.”

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The Associated Press