Ferrari and Charles Leclerc hit by Damon Hill broadside over "fundamental" errors

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Brazil, 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

São Paulo Grand Prix

Ferrari and Leclerc hit by Hill broadside over "fundamental" errors

Leclerc's courage has been brought into question

Ewan Gale

Saturday 12 November 2022 16:52

Damon Hill has launched an attack on Ferrari after the Scuderia again failed to get the "fundamental things right" in São Paulo Grand Prix qualifying.

Friday's session took place in changeable conditions, with the Interlagos circuit initially wet before a change to slick tyres.

In Q1, indecision saw Leclerc fitted with three different sets of tyres at one pit stop as pandemonium permeated through the Ferrari garage.

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The team escaped a disastrous elimination on that occasion, but when rain threatened at the start of Q3, the Monégasque was the only one of the 10 drivers to sit at the end of the pit lane on intermediate tyres.

By the time he had set a lap and George Russell had triggered a red flag following an excursion in his Mercedes, the rain had begun falling and left Leclerc 10th on the grid for the sprint.

It is the latest in a long list of failures from Ferrari operationally this season and speaking to Sky Sports F1, 1996 champion Hill said: "They just have to do the fundamental things right. That is the problem.

"What is going on in Ferrari? Who is going to take charge in this situation? This has been going on all year.

"It is upsetting in a way because they have the potential and you can see Charles is criticising the team on the radio effectively saying 'nice one guys', but he has to assume some responsibility as well.

"Maybe they are not letting him do that or maybe he doesn't have the courage to assume it for himself.

"Can you imagine Max Verstappen saying 'What are we doing?' His personality is such that he commands attention and that is part and parcel of being a leader in the team."

To add further confusion to Leclerc's intermediate tyre strategy, team-mate Carlos Sainz was sent out on soft tyres despite the Scuderia's insistence rain was due to fall.

When this query was put to Hill, he replied: "If it is on the radar, it is not on the track.

"If you can do a lap, you look at the track... this is fundamental racing stuff.

"You go with the conditions that are present at the time. You can't tell if it is going to rain in 30 seconds or two days."