Vasseur opens up on Ferrari star's OUTBURST

Leclerc in aanloop naar race in Canada — Photo: © LAT Images

Charles Leclerc

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Vasseur opens up on Ferrari star's OUTBURST

Vasseur admitted that Charles Leclerc had been unhappy with choices made in Canada

Chris Deeley

Thursday 22 June 2023 19:57

Ferrari chief Fred Vasseur has talked about Charles Leclerc's unhappiness with the team's strategy calls at the Canadian Grand Prix, insisting that the Prancing Horse gave him a 'valid strategy' in a disastrous qualifying session.

Leclerc failed to get out of Q2 for the second race in a row, and hit out at his team for their tyre strategy in a qualifying session heavily affected by rain in Montreal.

The Monegasque driver has been frustrated with the decision-making at the team in the past, and indeed the team have become something of a byword for poor in-race management, but Vasseur insisted to AS that the team had made a sensible decision in Canada.

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"In the decision with Charles we made the same strategy as the 95% of the cars on track," he said. "He was angry, but we talked about it internally. It was a valid strategy going into Q2. Intermediate, soft, then intermediate...you had two laps to do it in the middle of the session and nothing else. And if you don't turn around, it's over.

Vasseur: Leclerc wasn't at 100%

"Was he wrong? Let's say he was not at one hundred percent of the car's potential."

Vasseur went on to claim that drivers are prone to deferring blame onto the team's choices rather than their own performance, but appeared to gently chastise Leclerc for speaking out publicly before talking to his own team.

"I always try to protect my drivers and I fully understand that when they get out of the car after a bad result and ask them about the strategy, they will always say they are not happy. But sometimes it is better to talk to the team beforehand, it is constructive and direct."