Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc should 'admit culpability' like Lewis Hamilton, says Ross Brawn

Brazilian Grand Prix

Vettel and Leclerc should 'admit culpability' like Hamilton, says Brawn

The Ferrari pair ended each other's Brazilian GP after a collision at Interlagos.

Martin Macdonald

Tuesday 19 November 2019 10:59

Ross Brawn believes that Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc should “follow [Lewis] Hamilton’s example” and admit when they are in the wrong, after the Scuderia team-mates saw their Brazilian GP ended prematurely after a crash - which neither of them accepted responsibility for.

After a safety car period following Valtteri Bottas’ retirement on Sunday, both Vettel and Leclerc attempted to take advantage, but ended up touching cars which left the former with a puncture and the latter with damage to the front wing.

Afterwards, nobody admitted their guilt, which is in contrast to the actions of Hamilton, who held his hands up for accountability right away following a collision between himself and Alexander Albon.

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Brawn thinks the Ferrari duo could learn a thing or two from the six-time world champion.

“I wouldn’t want to venture an opinion on who was most at fault for the collision, but in the cold light of day, maybe it would be good if one of them will follow Hamilton’s example and immediately admit culpability, as the champion did regarding his clash with Albon,” the F1 director of motorsport wrote in his post-race column.

“If Ferrari really wants to put an end to Mercedes’ dominance, not only does it need to provide its drivers with a more competitive car next year, it must also ensure that incidents like this one are not repeated.

“Formula 1 is a team sport, especially so in Maranello.”

Vettel v Leclerc: How Ferrari fallout has dominated 2019Read more

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto now faces a "tough task" in stamping his authority over the pair, and must highlight the importance of the team over the individual driver, according to Brawn.

“After tensions flared in the races following the summer break, everything seemed to have calmed down in the Ferrari dressing room,” he added.

“But now, Mattia Binotto faces the tough task of getting things back on track and indeed he said just that in his interviews after the race.

“He had to get stuck in and tell the drivers to face up to their responsibilities, which in Maranello always means putting the interests of the team ahead of those of the individual, which was not the case in Sunday’s race.”