I don't think they're contradicting each other. Leclerc has been worse in S1 for most of the weekend, realistically I'm sure they both knew they'd be better in different areas and yes they did have setups targeting different areas. It's just that they both encountered more understeer than expected in the areas where they were weak. Leclerc knew he'd be slower in S1, but not that much slower. Sainz knew he'd be slower in S3, but not that much slower.
"Consciously sacrificing" might've been bad wording on my part however. It's more like Sainz didn't think his losses in S3 would erase his gains in S1.
I didn't get the impression he was concerned about their performance relative to Mercedes/Red Bull for future races, but he was very disappointed about the fact they put effort into Monza specifically and it didn't come to fruition.f1316 wrote: ↑31 Aug 2024, 18:56I can see Leclerc’s concern that, if they’re still behind here, it shows how much they’ll miss at other circuits and that the car still lacks some outright pace but we can’t expect miracles overnight and if they’re competitive in the race that will be the big indicator.
I'm surprised at so many people saying the upgrades did nothing. We honestly have no idea how much they did, we have no comparison to how they would've done without it, but neither driver has named the upgrades as the reason for their disappointment today. Unlike during the Barcelona triple header where they were very clear about it not being a gain.