Vettel, Leclerc earn Hakkinen sympathy over Brazil crash

Mika Hakkinen expressed sympathy with Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel over their collision at the Brazilian Grand Prix, but says the biggest pressure will now fall on Mattia Binotto's shoulders.

Tensions have simmered between Leclerc and Vettel through much of the season, but bubbled over in Brazil as their wheels touched and caused significant damage, forcing both to retire.

It left Ferrari stewing over a first double DNF since the Singapore GP in 2017, but the team have said that clear-the-air talks have been held between Binotto and the drivers.

Having lived through similar experiences in his career, Hakkinenopted not to point the finger at either Vettel or Leclerc.

"Teammates do collide," Hakkinen wrote for Unibet. "It happened to me at least twice, one in Portugal in 1996 and again in Austria in 1999 with my teammate David Coulthard.

"In Austria we had qualified 1st and 2nd, and really would have won the race, but David made a small mistake at the hairpin bend and pushed me into a spin.

"He would finish 2nd, I recovered from last place to finish 3rd, but we handed the race victory to Eddie Irvine's Ferrari. David apologised to me and the team, but the damage was done, the race was lost.

"For Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc to collide in Brazil was the worst outcome for both the drivers and their Ferrari team.

"I can really sympathise with how they will have felt, and it adds a little more pressure for team boss Mattia Binotto who must try to find a way to get his drivers to co-exist and work together as competitive teammates in 2020."

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