After Being Caught Red Handed for Favoring Charles Leclerc, Ferrari TP Denies Allegations Pointing at the Bigger Picture

Subsequently, after making mistakes in Saturday’s qualifying, where Ferrari left their star driver Charles Leclerc out on the intermediate compound whereas the rest of the field put on slicks, the 25-year-old was found fuming. It was only in the closing stages of the race that Leclerc and Carlos Sainz could escape their misfortunes and finish at P4 and P5, respectively. However, in their attempts to provide some critical points for the team, there was a situation where Ferrari TP Frederic Vasseur was caught red-handed completely favoring his “beloved” Leclerc. The Frenchman has since refuted all the allegations that indicated a bigger picture.

Ferrari’s one-pit-stop strategy had put Leclerc and Sainz in a comfortable position throughout the thriller at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. However, a team radio transmission informed the Monegasque that his teammate would not attack him. Ferrari benefitted from this since the team achieved the best outcome possible. Nevertheless, the Ferrari TP has been accused of attempting to keep Leclerc in his position after being caught red-handed making this decision.

Vasseur, as usual, was adamant about his decision and took each bullet to the chest while rejecting the accusations. The Frenchman stated that there was a determined strategy to obtain those critical points behind this action. According to F1 Journal, Vasseur stated, “No, it wasn’t that I wanted to protect anyone, it was just for strategy. During that phase of the race there had to be pushing and we wanted to avoid them  [Leclerc & Sainz] losing time together.”

The Monegasque driver was briefed by the team that the goal was to complete a “clean and fast” tire stint in order to collect as much data as possible, comprehend the progress made in terms of tire management, and further assess the optimal development path moving forward.

In addition, he also elaborated on the planned strategy, “We tried to go on longer to build a gap with [Esteban] Ocon and maybe [Lando] Norris as well (it was Ocon and Perez). To fight together and lose time would have been stupid,” said Vasseur.

READ MORE: Fingers Pointed at Charles Leclerc’s Shaky Confidence as Ferrari’s Biased Radio Messages Stand Analyzed

The Scuderia was still without a solution to the SF-23 issue after the Spanish Grand Prix. The problem appeared to recur at the Canadian GP, where Leclerc was forced to quit the second quali despite the fact that the car this time was more suited to the track owing to Ferrari’s poor strategy. Fredric Vasseur clarified the scenario by citing his justifications.

Frederic Vasseur provides his perspective regarding Charles Leclerc’s Q2 exit

Charles Leclerc had reasonable expectations for his performance in the Canadian GP given the agony that has plagued him since the start of the season. There are actually a number of reasons behind this. The first is that Ferrari introduced the upgrades, and the second is that the SF-23 is more suited to the Canadian track’s slow-moving bends.

Leclerc, though, was forced to withdraw in Q2 because of Ferrari’s poor strategy. The incident occurred after Ferrari disregarded Charles Leclerc’s wish to start the second qualifying round on dry tires as the track was drying out. By the time Leclerc was sent to the pits to get the slicks, it had already poured down heavily.

This outraged Leclerc, however, Frederic Vasseur insisted on his initial choice to leave Leclerc with the Inters. Vasseur said after the qualifying, “At this stage the rain was coming, and we wanted to put a time on the board as soon as possible. If you pit at the end of lap one to put a set of softs on, then you have two laps to warm up the tyres and you postpone your first flying lap for five minutes.”

Claiming that wasn’t the right strategy Vasseur added, “ It was not the right strategy at this stage.” 

With a person like Frederic Vasseur at the head of the team’s management, do you believe Ferrari is currently moving slowly and gradually in the right direction?

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