Fred Vasseur admitted that the pushing and pulling between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in the first lap of the Italian GP was ‘not good for the team’. The Ferrari drivers fought for position coming out of turn two, with Leclerc forcing his teammate wide and Hamilton running into the gravel. The Brit then dropped back to tenth place, while Leclerc later retired from the race after a crash in the Parabolica. Vasseur is considering issuing team orders in the future.
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Hamilton tried to overtake Leclerc in the first lap after both Ferraris had started from the second row. The Monegasque defended aggressively and gave his teammate no room, causing Hamilton to go off track. Vasseur did not want to make a detailed judgment about the incident afterwards. “I spoke for two seconds with Lewis (Hamilton, ed.) and not at all with Charles (Leclerc, ed.)”, Vasseur responded. “It is clear that this outcome is not good for the team.”
Comparison with McLaren
Ferrari has deliberately avoided favoring one of the two drivers this season, despite Hamilton’s growing deficit in the championship. However, Vasseur does not rule out that this may change later. “To see if we need a team order or something like that, I would like to draw a comparison with last year. At this stage of the championship, Piastri was leading the World Championship, but if McLaren had favored him, Max Verstappen would have ultimately become champion.”
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“For a team, it is never good to lose points, that is clear,” emphasized the Ferrari team principal. “At the start of the season, every team principal in the world would prefer to let them race. To demand as a team principal that they keep their position is never an easy choice. You do it for the team, you do it for the final result, but it will never be an easy choice. But at some point, you have to make a decision. When it comes down to it, we will have to choose.”
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