Helmut Marko: Ferrari “loves” driver games with Sebastian Vettel/Charles Leclerc

Leclerc and Vettel hadn’t had the best of seasons up until the return after the summer break which has seen the Scuderia win three of the past four races.
 
The Monegasque took victory in Spa and Monza but lost the lead in Singapore due to Ferrari pitting Vettel earlier, bringing him out in front for the rest of the race and his first win of the season.
 
At Russia Leclerc qualified on pole for the fourth time in a row with the German behind him in third and gave his teammate a tow from the start with the idea to get him in front of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
 
It worked but a little too well. Vettel overtook both Hamilton and Leclerc and later ignored team orders to switch back with his teammate before retiring, leaving a frustrated 21-year old on the radio.
 
“Vettel was ahead (at Sochi), so Leclerc complained and then the engineer said ‘Don’t worry, we’ll fix it with the pitstop’,” Marko told Servus TV.

“What that means is ‘we’ll manipulate the pitstop’. That’s against fairness and against sport.

“The whole situation is difficult enough for Ferrari, so why worsen it by consciously playing the drivers against one another?

“Ferrari loves these games, although most of the time it doesn’t turn out well. But that’s just Ferrari.

“It’s a different culture."

Marko also believes Leclerc is playing his part in the tension at Ferrari after not giving Vettel a slipstream in Italy.

“If Vettel didn’t stick to the rule at Sochi, then Leclerc didn’t stick to the rule in Monza,” he added.

“He was supposed to give Vettel a slipstream in qualifying. He’s definitely playing his part in the tension.”