Ferrari didn't tell Charles Leclerc about Sebastian Vettel's penalty
F1 News
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has revealed he wasn't told about the penalty of his teammate Sebastian Vettel, as the Monegasque almost got within five seconds of Vettel to take second place from him.
Leclerc started in third place behind both Lewis Hamilton and Vettel, and was initially held out longer on the medium tyre than Vettel. When he did pit for fresh rubber, Leclerc eventually climbed back up to third after briefly dropping to fourth behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
When Vettel got his controversial penalty, Leclerc starting gaining in the final laps and almost got within five seconds of Vettel to steal second place, but the 21-year-old said he wasn't informed about the penalty.
“I was not told on the radio that Seb had the five seconds penalty. I was just trying to push,” he was quoted by RaceFans after the race.
“They thought it was good at first to two-stop to do the fastest lap but I didn’t agree. I really wanted to try and push because I could see that I was quicker than the two guys in front. I wanted to have my chance if something happened but I didn’t know about the five second so I just pushed until the end.”
Leclerc not pitting for fresh rubber at the end meant Valtteri Bottas snatched the extra point for fastest lap.