After a successful 2024 F1 Las Vegas GP where Carlos Sainz (P3) and Charles Leclerc (P4) added another 27 points to the tally of Ferrari in the World Constructors’ Championship, the Maranello-based team now sits just 24 points behind McLaren, the current championship leaders.
However, despite the favourable outcome for the Maranello-based team, there was still some contention, as Charles Leclerc made clear after an angry tirade by Charles Leclerc over team radio.
The battle between teammates at the Las Vegas GP
After being changed onto his second set of hard compound tyres, Leclerc emerged from the pitlane ahead of his teammate. However, despite Sainz allegedly being ordered against overtaking his teammate, he passed Leclerc at Turn 4, ultimately securing himself a third-place finish behind both Mercedes drivers.
“We wanted to keep him on track”
The incident followed Sainz’s demand for an earlier pitstop during the final stint of the race. This caused some confusion due to Ferrari not being ready for the driver. This resulted in him having to bail out of his initial pit entry. Sainz was initially criticised, with many wondering if the driver would be penalised for crossing the white line. Ultimately, however, the stewards did not note the incident.
Vasseur noted that there had been some disagreement between the team and driver over the pitstop, with the latter wanting the Spaniard to remain on track. The team principal confirmed that the team had wanted Sainz to return the position to Leclerc. However, he stated that the drivers often had “their own vision of the race while in the car.” Vasseur added that the team and drivers would discuss the matter at a later point.
“When were discussing with Carlos for the pitstop, I was explaining that he was in the shadow of Lawson, Tsunoda perhaps, and he wanted to pit, we wanted to keep him on track.
“We were discussing like this and on top we had to swap and it was a bit of chaos, but when they are into the car they have their own vision of the race.”
“But don’t worry, we’ll discuss this later today.”
“Being nice f***s me over”
Sainz allegedly refusing to follow team orders incensed Leclerc, who had been attempting the overcut on his Sainz after the latter’s the earlier pitstop, He made these feelings clear to engineer Bryan Bozzi in explicit detail at the end of the race over the team radio.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I did my job but being nice fucks me over all the fucking time, all the fucking time.
“It’s not even being nice, it’s just being respectful.
“I know I need to shut up but at one point it’s always the same, so, oh my fucking god.”
When Bozzi replied that Leclerc had done the “right thing for the team”, the driver, unaware that his radio was still on replied:
“Yeah, yeah, fucking pick up what the fuck we want.
“Shit, shit, shit…and the radio is on. I’m sorry, that was on me.”
Ferrari will discuss Las Vegas GP incidents
When asked about Leclerc’s radio message, Vasseur confirmed that the driver’s frustration was due to Sainz’s overtake. However, he noted that the situation had been difficult for everyone involved.
“We have to avoid to fight. But at this stage I think that opening the stint, you have to be on the management side, and Carlos was already at lap three or four of the stints.
“But I think it’s more the fact that the situation was really difficult for everybody.”
Vasseur added that the matter would not remain an issue after intra-team discussions.
“We will discuss tonight. It won’t be an issue.”
Leclerc doesn’t have “the full picture”
Vasseur added that Leclerc’s anger was likely as a result of the driver not having a complete understanding of the situation. He reiterated that the team would fully discuss the matter.
“I’m not worried at all. I think, again, it’s always the same story that they have to make comments or they don’t have to make comments.
“They don’t have to make comments, but they are doing comments in the [slow-down] lap. And they don’t have always the full picture.”
“We will discuss it together and it won’t be an issue.”
Mercedes the faster team at Las Vegas GP
Despite the incidents, Vasseur stated that he did not think that Ferrari could have achieved a better result. While he suggested that a different approach could have been considered, he stated that Mercedes had been the faster team.
“Honestly, I don’t think so. I think overall Mercedes was faster. Perhaps with a different approach on the weekend. But I don’t think that today, from the starting grid, that we have to expect better than this.”
