Ferrari to keep Brazil GP driver clash discussions private

Ferrari Formula 1 team principal Mattia Binotto has refused to elaborate on the internal discussions held following the collision between Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Vettel and Leclerc came together in the closing stages of the Interlagos race in what Binotto described was a “silly action”, before summoning both drivers to a meeting to review the incident behind closed doors at its Maranello headquarters.

Binotto said would not go into the finer details of the inquest but insisted he is confident that a repeat clash will not happen again in the future.

“There are no answers here; it’s something we discussed internally,” Binotto explained.

“They are both very good drivers, they know exactly what to do. I think it has been somehow unfortunate what happened but it will not happen anymore.

“Is there one driver more to blame than the other? I think it’s even not important, because maybe that time it could have been maybe Seb, next time maybe Charles.

“They are two drivers, they are fighting, they can both of them make mistakes. I think that at the end what’s important is to make sure that whoever he is, the one in Brazil, or the next time, it’s not happening again.

“And again, I don’t think there is much to discuss. That’s something that is something that is in between our factory, between us, something we discussed and I’m happy to keep it between us.”

Ahead of this weekend’s season finale in Abu Dhabi, Leclerc admitted he could have given Vettel more room but also hinted the German was more at fault for appearing to move left into his path along the back straight.

“If you listen to the drivers, they may have their own version,” Binotto added. “I think at the end there is one true version, which is that they damaged the interest of the Scuderia Ferrari, and by doing that, damaging themselves.

“We discussed altogether, we looked again at the video. I think what’s always important when that type of thing happens, there is always something which is triggering it.

“And more important is to understand what’s triggering it. It's the only way to make sure that in the future it’s not happening again. And that’s something that certainly we discussed - between us.”