Sebastian Vettel-Charles Leclerc Ferrari team orders good management, says Ross Brawn

Ferrari

Vettel-Leclerc team orders good management, says Brawn

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Matthew Scott

Wednesday 17 April 2019 11:32

Ex-Ferrari technical chief Ross Brawn believes the Scuderia's new team principal Mattia Binotto is doing a good job of managing Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc in his driver line-up, despite the decision to give Vettel "priority" in 2019 already coming under scrutiny.

Leclerc's race in China last time out was compromised somewhat by Ferrari issuing him team orders to let Vettel through in an attempt to close the gap to Mercedes.

It only served to back Leclerc into the clutches of Max Verstappen, who beat him to fourth, while Lewis Hamilton led Valtteri Bottas in Mercedes' third one-two finish from as many races this season.

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Leclerc has been issued orders in some form at all three races so far, with Binotto's decision to orchestrate things immediately described as "opening a can of worms" by Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff, however Brawn – the Austrian's predecessor at Brackley – says the situation is not easy to handle.

"Team Principal Mattia Binotto finds himself having to manage what is definitely a new situation for Ferrari, in the shape of two drivers fighting at a very high level," Brawn said.

"For now, Mattia is managing the situation well, dealing on the one hand with the talented young Leclerc, while managing the valuable resource that is Vettel, who as a four-time world champion has shown himself capable of dealing with pressure in the past.

"This is definitely a tricky year for Sebastian and the podium in Shanghai will have been a confidence boost, while Charles has shown great maturity in accepting team decisions that are not easy to digest."

Ferrari entered 2019 as many onlookers' favourites for title success, however their "ballistically quick" (Christian Horner's words) car cannot match the Mercedes W10 through the corners.

Brawn added: "The first three races have confirmed that if Ferrari wants to challenge Mercedes everything has to be perfect at all levels: performance, reliability and teamwork.

"That's what Binotto and his guys have to do and, knowing Mattia, I am sure he is aware of that and will devote all his energies to ensuring it happens."