Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was not a happy man after the Las Vegas Grand Prix came to an end on Sunday.
The 27-year-old driver crossed the line in fourth place, behind Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton with teammate Carlos Sainz finishing third.
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After a blistering start to the race Leclerc jumped from fourth into second, but his tyres fell apart as he dropped back down to fourth.
But his frustration boiled over in the latter stages of the race when he emerged from his second pit stop ahead of Sainz and was told by his race engineer Bryan Bozzi that his teammate would be staying behind.
“Carlos has been told to not overtake but it is really close, you might be just in front,” said Bozzi. “He has been told to not put you under pressure. So just take care of your tyres.”
Moments later however Sainz closed the gap and ultimately shot past Leclerc which resulted in the Monegasque driver losing his cool over the team radio.
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Bozzi: “Pick up, please.”
Leclerc: “Yes. Whatever you want. As always.”
Bozzi: “Charles, you did your job, OK. Thank you.”
Leclerc: “Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I did my job, but being nice f***s me over all the f***ing time, all the f***ing time. It’s not even being nice, it’s just being respectful. I know I need to shut up but…”
Bozzi: “Charles, Charles….”
Leclerc: “…at one point it’s always the same. So. Ahhh my f***ing God.”
Bryan: “OK. But anyway… you did the right thing for the team. And pick up please.”
Leclerc: “Yeah, yeah. F***ing pick up what the f*** we want. And the radio is on. I’m sorry. That was, not me.”
Leclerc refused to be drawn on the situation but hinted to Sky Sports that Sainz had breached some sort of pre-race agreement, perhaps not for the first time.
“Every time there’s this kind of frustration, there’s not the background for everybody, and there’s just no need for me to go into the details of everything that’s discussed,” he said.
“I think I did my part in the first stint when I had tyres that were completely gone — I didn’t want to fight at that point, so I let Carlos by.
“The rest we’ll discuss it within the team. I don’t want to go into the details.
“It’s not about favouring one or the other; it’s about things that we have been told.
“I’ve already said too much, so I don’t want to go into the details whatsoever. It’s just frustrating when it’s like this, and it’s frustrating for me, but I can understand that nobody understands that.”
While anger was boiling over in the Ferrari garage, celebrations kicked off in the Red Bull garage as Max Verstappen wrapped up his fourth straight F1 drivers championship.
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