In the penultimate race of the Formula 1 season they jumped sparks between teammates. max verstappen with Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso with Esteban Ocon… and also at Ferrari, where Charles Leclerc ended up very angry because from the wall they did not let him attack Carlos Sainzwhich ended on the podium.
“Think about the championship in case it ends like this. Please, think about the championship, I need the points”, the pilot begged on the radio. He was referring to the fight with Sergio Pérez for second place in the drivers’ championship.
But Ferrari did not allow it. The Monegasque was fourth and Sainz, third. At the end of the Brazilian GP, congratulations followed one another on the radio and that was when Leclerc had enough.
“Great job. P4, great job,” his engineer radioed him. And Leclerc was very direct: “Yes, great… ‘mamma mia’. Come on… Turn off the radio”. That was the reaction that was not seen at first in the Formula 1 broadcast.
Despite the driver’s anger, Ferrari is convinced that he did the right thing. Mattia Binottoteam boss, has justified it: “Swapping the two cars on the last straight was certainly complicated, because Charles had Fernando and Max right behind. So, without a doubt, it would have been complicated and, in a way, dangerous “.
“Race control gave us the go-ahead at the time, so we were quite comfortable, but without having a conclusion on that matter, it would have been risky, because a five-second penalty, for example, would mean that then Carlos would have lost more than position, so for the constructors’ championship it was definitely better stick to the positions and the differences on track”, he sentenced.