Charles Leclerc clarifies the heated radio exchange with Ferrari over Carlos Sainz-team order

Charles Leclerc's one-stop strategy on a tire-eater car ruined his race before he had to let his teammate by

Charles Leclerc clarifies the heated radio exchange with Ferrari over Carlos Sainz-team order

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc (Via IMAGO)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was found screaming at his team in his cockpit when asked to let his teammate by. According to the Monegasque, he was not angry about letting Carlos Sainz by but blamed the team for poor strategy. Leclerc was rational about protecting to P4 spot from the Red Bull driver Sergio Perez.

Leclerc explained that the outburst was due to heat-of-the-moment, and completely understood the team’s explanation to protect Sainz from Perez. Leclerc was unhappy about his Pole position turned into a miserable P6 finish due to wrong strategy calls. He was put on a one-stop strategy by the team, which didn’t suit the Monegasque driver.

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He explained the team was going back and forth on deciding how many stops to take, and they finally chose a one-stopper. But due to the race, the one-stopper was visibly slow compared to the two-stoppers. The ex-F2 champion was furious with the pit-stop decision, and that’s when he was asked swap places. He vented at the race engineers over this frustration.

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It's something I said on the radio in the heat of the moment, I don't know why. Then they told me that Perez was coming and I understood that what we needed was to protect Carlos, who wasn't wasting much time with me either. I'm not angry about letting him through, I'm more angry about the strategy,"
Leclerc said, as reported by Soymotor.

He believes the team needs to take these instances and learn from them so they don’t happen again. Charles slipped down to P7 from P6 in the Driver’s standings. He lost the position to the McLaren driver Lando Norris after his post-race disqualification from the US GP.

Discover: Lewis Hamilton admits he is ‘disappointed’ with US GP disqualification

Ferrari’s reasoning for the disqualified car number 16 after the US GP

Ferrari’s car, driven by Charles Leclerc, was penalized by the FIA and deemed disqualified for breaking FIA’s technical regulations rule. Ferrari’s Sporting Director, Diego Ioverno, explained the team’s stand on the disqualification of Leclerc. 

Austin is a nice track but is very bumpy. Bumpiness is for drivers and cars. In the past, more or less everyone failed their suspension or chassis".
Frederic Vasseur (via Planet F1)

He said the team had lifted its car’s floor to protect it from the bumps. He elaborated that there was nothing they could’ve done about the infringement. The team could’ve lifted the floor further, but it would’ve impacted the car’s performance.

F1 now heads to Mexico, where Mercedes and Ferrari will both try to outscore each other to seal the P2 in the Constructor’s Standings. Both teams might be seen to push even further but within regulations this time.

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