Frederic Vasseur shrugs off developing Charles Leclerc-Carlos Sainz tension
Frederic Vasseur addresses Charles Leclerc's claim that Carlos Sainz cost him P4 in Barcelona.
Ferrari F1 team principal Frederic Vasseur has dismissed questions about the developing tension between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Leclerc and Sainz were seen having a tense discussion after the race in parc ferme.
The Monegasque driver was frustrated with how Sainz overtook him in the early laps of the race.
Leclerc felt that both drivers should have been saving their tyres - something that was discussed before the race - while Sainz wanted to go on the attack to make the most of the new soft tyre.
After the race, Leclerc fired a dig at Sainz for trying to impress on home soil and given his contract situation, it’s unsurprising that his teammate wanted to make a mark.
Sainz hit back by saying that Leclerc tends to complain too much after the latter suggested on team radio that the aforementioned battle cost him crucial lap time to get past George Russell on the final lap.
Giving his view on the situation, Vasseur told media in Barcelona: “I think you can find ten examples of ten circumstances in the race where we missed half a tenth.
“Half a second, sorry, or others that were after when Carlos let him go very easily also later on.
“And we missed a couple of tenths during two or three laps. Let us discuss and not to draw a conclusion after the first comment of the driver when he jumped out of the car.”
It was a disappointing weekend on the whole for Ferrari, who left Barcelona as the third-quickest team despite bringing a new upgrade to the event.
Despite not showing outstanding speed on track, Vasseur is happy with the progress being made.
“Yes, that we are satisfied with the numbers that we get,” he added. “First, everybody is improving. That means that it is not that because you bring something that you will do a jump in front. It is that if you don't bring, you will do a jump backwards.
“And everybody is bringing parts now, each two or three events. Sometimes you have the list of what we are publishing, but it is just a aero. Don't forget that we are not developing just the aero.
“And then sometimes we need also one or two events before to get the best from the package that we have. We have a kind of convergence of performance today over the last 12 months.”
