Charles Leclerc faces questions on Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton

11/23/2022

The Finn let the Briton through to win the 2018 Russian Grand Prix to help his title push. Earlier in the season, Ferrari sporting director Laurent Mekies stressed the team would look at favouring one driver over the other when the time was right.

However, they still failed to do this over the final races with Leclerc needing to beat Perez in Abu Dhabi to ensure he finished second in the championship. Mekies said: “It is more discussed outside Ferrari than inside Ferrari [the topic of team orders].

“But more seriously, again, we have always been very clear. We target to have the best result for the team; Ferrari comes first. And then of course there will be a point where we will need to focus more on a driver compared to the other one if the championship position is requiring.”

Mick Schumacher drives his father’s Ferrari F2003-GA

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Charles Leclerc has opened up on claims Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are treated differently than the Monegasque is at Ferrar. Leclerc has cut a frustrated figure over the second half of the season as his championship bid faltered. However, Leclerc has appeared frustrated at the Prancing Horse’s reluctance to introduce team orders earlier in the season.

Leclerc told L’Equipe: “It’s something that I personally can’t control, so I prefer to focus on what I can manage and on my driving. These are things that are dealt with internally if I feel the need to: my job is to do the best possible and then the team must push in my direction. That’s my answer.”

The Ferrari man urged his team to “do something” at the British Grand Prix as he struggled behind Carlos Sainz but the team refused to intervene. Leclerc eventually dropped back to P4 as Sainz won with Ferrari failing to capitalise on a day where Verstappen only scored a handful of points.

In Brazil, Leclerc said he was left “frustrated” after the team didn’t intervene on the final lap.

The Ferrari star had begged over team radio for Sainz to rescind a position to allow Leclerc to score points in his battle with Sergio Perez in the drivers’ standings He claimed the team had discussed the issue before the race and stressed the team had changed their minds.

Meanwhile, Verstappen continues to enjoy number one status at Red Bull. Team-mate Sergio Perez was asked to move aside for Verstappen at the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this season.

The Mexican also sacrificed races last season to help Verstappen’s title bid, including slowing down Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi. Similarly, Valtteri Bottas played a backseat role to Hamilton during his time with Mercedes.

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