Fred Vasseur has admitted the incident between the Ferrari drivers on the opening lap of the Method 1 Italian Grand Prix was “not good for the workforce” after a disappointing weekend for the Scuderia.
Charles Leclerc defended aggressively on the primary lap towards Lewis Hamilton, who tried to move his team-mate after each began from the second row of the grid. The Monegasque refused to concede the place, pushing Hamilton extensive on the exit of Flip 2 and forcing him into the gravel, which resulted in Hamilton dropping to tenth.
“I spoke to Lewis for 2 seconds and in no way with Charles,” Vasseur mentioned when requested concerning the incident throughout his media session on Sunday night time. “We’ll have time to debate that. I choose to debate with them first and never with you. For certain, the result of Flip 1-2 will not be good for the workforce, if it is the query.”
Ferrari has been reluctant to stop its drivers from battling one another this yr – regardless of some calls from observers for the workforce to again Hamilton within the championship struggle, given he has been the closest Ferrari driver to the Mercedes pair. Vasseur believes such a choice would have been untimely, and subsequently the coverage hadn’t modified earlier than Monza.
He did, nevertheless, trace that such a name might come in some unspecified time in the future.
“Now, to see if we [need to] have a workforce order or no matter, I feel that the nice comparability that I made was that final yr,” he mentioned. “Piastri was main McLaren at this stage of the season and if McLaren put every part on Piastri, Max Verstappen would have been champion.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photograph by: Simon Galloway / LAT Photos by way of Getty Photos
“For certain, at one stage you need to take a choice, however I feel it was too early to take a choice earlier than Monza. Now I’ll have time to debate with the blokes.
“For a workforce, it is by no means good to lose factors. That is clear. Now, mainly at first of the season, I feel each single workforce principal on the planet would like to allow them to race. To freeze positions if you find yourself the workforce principal, do not think about that it is a straightforward selection. You do it for the workforce, you do it for the outcomes on the finish, but it surely’s by no means a straightforward name.
“By definition, I might like to allow them to race all of the weekend. Now, by purpose, you need to take a choice at one stage. Every workforce is completely different. We should take a choice after we’ll determine.”
Leclerc, who retired from the race early after crashing on the Parabolica, admitted afterwards that the first-lap incident was not precisely what the workforce wanted, saying “we went too far”.
When these phrases had been put to Hamilton after the race, he responded: “I used to be forward in Flip 2, by the apex, I used to be forward. There was no we in it.”
Following Kimi Antonelli’s victory at Monza, Hamilton is now 76 factors behind the Italian within the championship. Ferrari trails Mercedes by 122 factors within the constructors’ standings.
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