Formula 1: Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has again waved away the idea that there are pressures inside Ferrari following a baffling end of the week for the Monegasque at the British Grand Prix. Some staff members were not ready to celebrate Carlos Sainz’s win as the Spaniard clinched his maiden victory in F1 in his 150th race start. Follow Formula 1 Updates and Austrian Grand Prix Live on InsideSport.IN.
Charles Leclerc after the British GP admitted that some staff members skipped the photo because of logistical reasons. “It is a shame to see all of these type of things, because it is definitely not what is happening inside the team. We’re a very united team – we always have been – it is not these difficult races that will make that change,” Leclerc said.
“Of course, I was very disappointed after last weekend. We were one and two, and we finished one and four. So of course some parts of the team were disappointed, but this was definitely not the reason for not everybody being on the [Sainz celebration] picture,” Leclerc added.
“Half of the team who stayed for the picture missed the plane to go back home, so that was quite tricky. We wanted to do a first picture, but Carlos was not there so we had to delay everything. But there are no hard feelings whatsoever. Of course, there is disappointment because on my side I was leading the race and finished fourth. But everyone was very happy for Carlos, and this is the feeling that there is inside the team. We need to be better for these things not to happen again,” The Monegasque driver further added.
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc was irritated in the beginning phases of the race as he believed he was losing time while behind colleague Carlos Sainz. And afterward, late on he didn’t pit for fresher tyres after the safety car was deployed, while Sainz came in for fresh tyres and went on to claim his first F1 win.
🇬🇧 Winning my first F1 GP, with Ferrari and this crowd, in Silverstone… Amazing. It was a tough race mentally with fights, a restart, fuel-saving, Safety-Car… But we made it. Let’s enjoy today, but full focus on Austria tomorrow!
–#Carlossaiz pic.twitter.com/upe6WbNxac
— Carlos Sainz (@Carlossainz55) July 3, 2022
Having been leading the pack, Leclerc finished fourth and not long after had a trackside discussion with team principal Mattia Binotto. The group supervisor was spotted swaying his finger at the Monegasque, however, the Italian guaranteed he was commending a ‘fabulous race’ from the driver.
In the meantime, Leclerc and Binotto were seen eating in Monaco recently. The dinner was coordinated ‘to drop the post-race pressure’ and to ‘fortify a frayed relationship forever’. Both the Ferrari drivers will be eager to put on a good show at the Austrian Grand Prix and take maximum points from the home race of Red Bull at the Red Bull Ring.
