Charles Leclerc says he needs to "control myself" more during potentially intense situations and learn to "shut up", in the wake of his radio chatter during the Singapore Grand Prix.
Leclerc led away from pole position but was undercut by third-placed Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel during the pit stop phase, with the squad conceding it was surprised by the impact of pitting early.
Leclerc vented his frustration at the situation in a series of radio messages, including commenting that the way the race had developed was not fair, and that his "head would be down" until the chequered flag.
“I believe that my reaction was well over what it should be, and that shows that I’ve still got a lot to learn,” said Leclerc.
“In this situation, there was absolutely no need to be like this. The team has done the right thing. We finished first and second.
“We wouldn’t have finished first and second with another strategy, and that’s what matters the most.
“On that, I’ve definitely got a lot to learn and a lot to improve so that won’t happen again in the future.
“In the car, it’s always very difficult. There is a lot of adrenaline. I wake up in the morning thinking about victory, I go to sleep thinking about victory.
“Sometimes it might be hard, but yeah, I just need to control myself more in these situations, and, how can I say it politely? Just shut up! I will learn from this, and I will try for it to not happen again.”
Ferrari has now won the last three grands prix in succession, following on from Leclerc’s triumphs in Belgium and Italy, but reckons Mercedes will be “very difficult” to beat in Russia this weekend.
“We have been very surprised in Singapore by how quick we were,” said Leclerc.
“Whether it will be the same story here or not, I don’t know. Definitely if we wouldn’t have had the Singapore weekend, we would not arrive here thinking we are the favourites.
“Mercedes have always been very quick, they have won all years here, so it’s going to be very difficult to beat them.
“But seeing the performance in Singapore, we are a bit more confident. Let’s see if we can challenge them.”
