Carlos Sainz looks more like the leader of Ferrari than Charles Leclerc, according to Damon Hill, the 1996 Formula One world champion.

Speaking on the program of , Hill acknowledged that "Charles is clearly fast," but in his opinion, Sainz knows how to guide the team better in terms of strategy.

"I see Charles more as the real leader of the team," Hill said. "He seems to be more familiar with strategy and able to make decisions."

The French GP was disappointing for Ferrari. Sainz came in only fifth after recovering from a grid penalty and Leclerc crashed solo.

However, Hill says Ferrari has "huge" potential, and if they can solve their problems, he believes Leclerc can still contend with Max Verstappen.

"Ferrari's potential is huge, and I think they will really be a threat if they can solve these problems. If they are able to do that from now on, the end of the championship could be very close."

That said, Hill acknowledges that things are looking increasingly difficult for the Scuderia.

"They would need a good dose of luck and they would also have to eliminate all the mistakes," he told .

"I'm talking about Ferrari in particular and also Charles, who clearly admitted he made a driving error, there was no contributing factor. A certain turnaround would be necessary."

"He was under pressure because Verstappen had just changed tires, so I think he probably thought 'I need to push now because we're probably going to stop soon,' and maybe he went over the limit."

"If Verstappen is a bit unlucky, which is not impossible - they have faced some reliability issues - the gap could narrow. However, it looks more and more like Ferrari has thrown everything away."