Communication at Ferrari was once again the hot topic during Sprint Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc left puzzled by a particular decision.
Charles Leclerc secured P4 on the grid for Saturday’s sprint race, but was usurped by Lewis Hamilton, as the seven time world champion took a ‘shocking’ pole position in Shanghai.
The Brit produced a stunning final lap to take full advantage of the faltering McLarens, and finished the session two tenths ahead of his Ferrari team mate.
Hamilton admitted he was ‘gobsmacked’ at his sudden change in fortunes, after enduring a disappointing debut last weekend, finishing P10 in Melbourne.
Leclerc confused by swap decision
During the outlap ahead of the final SQ2 runs, there was a peculiar conversation over the Ferrari airwaves, in which Leclerc was told to swap positions on track with his team mate.
The Monegasque driver responded: “Swap the cars now?
“Yeah, I’ll do it, but we’ve never done that, and I’m a bit in the sh*t as well.”
Leclerc followed the instructions and promptly let Hamilton through, and despite a two tenths deficit to the Brit, managed to make it through to SQ3.
After the Australian GP, where Hamilton’s discussions with race engineer Riccardo Adami made headlines, it is yet more signs of confusion at Ferrari.
Leclerc a ‘step back’ from Hamilton
After the session, Leclerc explained how his team mate was simply ‘faster’ than him around the Shanghai International Circuit.
He said: “Obviously, it’s a shame we start P4, I struggled on my side of the garage.
“From the beginning I felt like I was a step back compared to Lewis, and Lewis was just faster today.
“I struggled a lot in Turn 1, 2, 3, which was more or less the same struggles I had last year, so that’s a bit of a shame.
“Everything was quite tight, but Lewis is on the ball and hopefully we can have a good race together tomorrow.”
Feature Image Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Media Centre
