There’s trouble in the hen-house
FERRARI FEUD: VETTEL, LECLERC ON BRINK OF A BUST-UP
Ferrari put two roosters in the same hen-house when they paired Sebastian Vettel with Charles Leclerc and now they are facing the fallout. Vettel, a four-times Formula One champion once seen as the successor to Michael Schumacher, would have expected to be the main man in his fifth year in red overalls but Leclerc, Ferrari’s youngest winner, has made short work of that.
The 21-year-old Monegasque has made his presence felt and the pressure cooker is starting to whistle, as heard in ‘team orders’ radio exchanges relayed to a global audience in Singapore two weeks ago and Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix.
Leclerc has more points, more podiums, poles and wins in 2019 than Vettel, who is on the brink of being mathematically ruled out of the title chase and whose future has been questioned.
The youngster has out-qualified his team-mate for nine races in a row, taking four consecutive poles – the first Ferrari driver to do so since Schumacher – and winning in Belgium and Ferrari’s home race at Monza.
On Sunday the commotion came when Vettel was instructed to hand back the lead gained through slipstreaming Leclerc as part of a pre-race pact.
The German’s immediate response was to speed up, point out that Leclerc was too far behind and say he would have passed him anyway.
Leclerc shot back, emphasising that he had been “put behind” and expected redress, suggesting the gloves were coming off.
More flare-ups can be expected, even if Ferrari have publicly doused the flames this time, as the elder statesman contends with a self-assured youngster who has plenty of pace and threatens to steal his throne.
“It shows you it’s not trivial at all to manage two drivers that have the aspiration to win,” commented Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who had to manage the fallout of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg battling for wins and titles from 2013-16.
“As a team we have been through these situations and it’s certainly not easy.” –