Charles Leclerc expressed he’s the “only one who respects agreements” as team-mate Carlos Sainz overrode a Ferrari instruction in Formula 1‘s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Leclerc launched into an expletive-ridden radio message post-race over an incident in the race which saw Sainz overtake him en route to taking the last podium place.
The Monegasque racer completed his second pit stop on Lap 31, three laps later than Sainz, but still emerged ahead as he sought to get his rubber up to temperature.
But although Leclerc was told that Sainz wouldn’t place him under pressure, the Spaniard proceeded to ignore the call as he overtook his team-mate down into Turn 4.
Both drivers passed Max Verstappen’s Red Bull to guarantee Ferrari came behind the race-winning Mercedes cars, but Leclerc was outraged with what had transpired.
Having clashed with Sainz over an identical episode earlier this season at the Spanish Grand Prix, Leclerc has stated that he will be less charitable in future situations.
“I’m not happy, but I won’t go into details,” Leclerc told Sky Sports Italy post-race.
“Why? Because we talk about these things before the race, and I’m always the only one who respects those agreements.
“From now on I will be thinking about myself only. It’s a shame that I couldn’t get more points on [Lando] Norris.”
Leclerc had lined up fourth, two places behind Sainz on the grid, but moved past his team-mate and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine when he cut underneath the pair into Turn 1.
He then latched onto polesitter George Russell’s rear and was pressuring the Mercedes driver until severe graining saw him drop into the clutches of the pack behind.
“I felt like I had everything under control, but then from one corner to the other, I lost three seconds per lap, which was absolutely crazy,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“So yeah, that took me by surprise and we lost quite a lot there, but then on the Hard we were strong, but obviously it wasn’t enough to do anything better than third and fourth.”
Russell pursuit hampered Leclerc
Leclerc has admitted that his decision to chase Russell in the opening stages was a mistake in hindsight as it cost him places to both his team-mate and Verstappen.
Asked whether he sensed the extreme graining he endured had to do with his attack on Russell, Leclerc replied: “I think so, but it didn’t affect him too much.
“It did affect me though, but being in dirty air, you pay a lot the price of it.
“So yeah, that was difficult to manage for me, but I just went a bit too much. I just put too much stress on the tyres in the first thing. So it’s my bad.”
Leclerc feared the worst in opening stint
Leclerc has professed that his eventual fourth-place finish was better than he had envisaged when he was slipping back at a rapid rate during his shortened first stint.
“When I started to feel the Medium going at lap six, I was like, ‘oh, that doesn’t look great for the rest of the race’,” Leclerc recalled.
“But then with the Hard, everything felt a little bit more in line with what I expected and then we were in a good place.
“So yeah, I think if you had told me that we’ll finish fourth after the first stint, I probably would have taken it.”
Mercedes ‘outlier’ impacts Ferrari’s title hopes
Ferrari managed to capitalise on McLaren’s struggles in low-grip conditions to reduce its deficit in the Constructors’ Championship to 24 points with two rounds to go.
However, Leclerc has acknowledged that Mercedes’ surprise emergence as the benchmark side in Las Vegas prevented the Italian marque from gaining more ground.
“I think we expected us to be stronger than them [McLaren], which was the case,” he added.
“We did not expect Mercedes to be that strong, so maybe Mercedes is more the outlier than McLaren was.”
READ MORE – Ferrari: Charles Leclerc Las Vegas radio rant ‘won’t be an issue’
