Explicit tension
In Ferrari, the problem of the relationship between the drivers seems to be resurfacing. At the end of the Dutch GP the tension between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc seemed palpable, starting from the team radios in which the Englishman pointed the finger at the team, guilty of not letting him pass ahead of the Monegasque when the two found themselves one behind the other with different strategies. Leclerc, for his part, as soon as he crossed the finish line in fifth position, just behind Hamilton, pulled alongside the twin car, turned to Hamilton and shook his head several times. Then in front of the microphones of the French TV Canal+, Leclerc also confirmed that there was no clarification after the race between the two Cavallino drivers.
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“Did we talk with Hamilton? No – Leclerc stated – but sometimes there is frustration on my part, sometimes there is frustration on Lewis’s part, and in general we get along very well. So there will be no problems from that point of view”. An attempt to quell the tensions not very convincing. Then Leclerc, still speaking with Canal+, went into detail about the controversial episode and he too had complaints about how Ferrari handled the matter. His complaint, however, is logically different from that expressed by Hamilton.
No clarification
“I would have liked to stay on track longer – declared the #16 red, who was instead called back to the pits precisely to give way to Hamilton – before the race we had discussed preferences and that was my preference. Then at the start of the lap the team asked me to pit, but at the end of the lap they asked me to stay on track. And that’s what I did. Then, I think two laps later, I pitted”.
The only thing that bothered me a bit, it’s true, is that we were trying to put pressure on Russell to stop, so we could have stayed on track longer to create a greater tire difference. In the end, however, I found myself five seconds behind Russell with more or less the same tires, having pitted almost at the same time. So, at that point, it was as if I had resigned myself to finishing behind Russell and that was mainly what bothered me at that moment in the race. But it went like that, never mind“, concluded Leclerc.
