Leclerc: “The situation is now clear”

Pierre Corneille once spoke to us about “ this obscure light that falls from the stars ". The oxymoron suited Ferrari's performance particularly well two weeks ago in Russia, where the palaver and strategic approximations of the Team at the start of the test made it vulnerable to attacks from Mercedes. 

Starting from pole position for the 4th time in a row, Charles Leclerc had not defended his place at the start against Sebastian Vettel, author of a superb takeoff from the 3rd row of the grid to take the lead at the first corner. 

After letting his teammate take advantage of the slipstream phenomenon in his wake, the Monegasque expected the latter to give him back control of the race, as had been agreed with the team before the race. 

Except that Vettel obviously heard it differently and refused to step aside in front of his neighbor in the garage, who took umbrage. The four-time world champion finally retired due to an MGU-K problem… and caused a Virtual Safety Car which deprived Leclerc of victory.

« There was a misunderstanding in the car, confided Leclerc from Suzuka. We talked about it and everything is clear now. From the outside, it looks like it's a big thing, but it's not at all. Everything is fine.

What has been clear since the start of the season is that we must obey the team's instructions. At the start of the race, the situation was perhaps not clear for both drivers. The most important thing is to avoid a repeat of history ». 

After Russia, Leclerc and Vettel spoke, one day apart, with their team principal Mattia Binotto in Maranello. The two men also had the opportunity to discuss the failed Russian campaign. 

« We talked about it among ourselves, and more than once, confirmed the German in Japan. People may think otherwise. I think the situation is quite clear ». 

So much clarity, it's almost disturbing.