Vasseur plays down Leclerc’s post-race radio rage
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has brushed off Charles Leclerc’s fiery post-race radio message following the Las Vegas Grand Prix, attributing the Monegasque’s frustration to a lack of information regarding a confusing strategic situation.
Leclerc was incensed after losing out to teammate Carlos Sainz during the final pitstop phase.
The Monegasque appeared set to maintain track position over Sainz after pitting on lap 31, or three laps later than his teammate who had undertaken his tyre change on lap 28.
As Leclerc rejoined ahead of the Spaniard, he was told by race engineer Bryan Bozzi that Sainz had been ordered to hold back.
"He has been told to not put you under pressure so just take care of your tyres," conveyed Bozzi over the radio.
However, that directive was properly ignored by Sainz who immediately overtook Leclerc into Turn 4.
Both drivers later passed Max Verstappen to secure third and fourth places, with Sainz finishing ahead, but Leclerc clearly felt done over.
After crossing the finish line, Leclerc vented his frustration over the team radio to race engineer Brian Bozzi, his feelings compounded by the fact that he had voluntarily let Sainz pass after just six laps when severe tyre graining impacted his pace.
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“You did your job,” Bozzi said, to which a livid Leclerc replied, “Yeah I did my job. But speaking nice, fucks me all the fucking time! All the fucking time.
“It's not 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."
Speaking after the race, Vasseur downplayed any lasting impact from Leclerc’s angry rant, emphasizing that emotions can run high when drivers don’t have the full context during the heat of the moment.
"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," said the Scuderia chief.
"They are doing comments on the [slow-down] lap and they don't have always the full picture. We will discuss and it won't be an issue.
"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.
"I think it's more the fact that the situation was really difficult for everybody, but we will discuss tonight. It won't be an issue.”
Vasseur acknowledged that Ferrari's pit strategy and communication had been particularly challenging during the race.
Sainz, who was eager to pit earlier, had been held on track to avoid traffic ahead, creating a situation that escalated as the stint unfolded.
"When we’re 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,” elaborated Vasseur.
"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."
While Ferrari will need to smooth out tensions in the debrief, Vasseur’s comments suggest confidence in his drivers’ ability to move past the incident.
Leclerc’s frustrations may have boiled over, but the Ferrari boss is not anticipating any lingering discord as the team heads into the final races of the season having reduced its deficit to McLaren in the championship to 24 points.
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