Ross Brawn urges Sebastian Vettel or Charles Leclerc to accept blame

F1 News

19 November 2019 at 08:08
  • Bevan Youl

Formula 1 motorsport and technical director Ross Brawn has urged that one of Sebastian Vettel or Charles Leclerc should “follow Hamilton’s example” and accept blame for their Ferrari crash at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Both Ferrari drivers were in a great position for podium finishes the closing laps around Interlagos but had to battle it out with each other first after a safety car restart, with Leclerc passing Vettel into turn one.
 
But the German came back at turn three with DRS into the straight, passing the Monegasque before both clipped each other, sending them into retirement.
 
Stewards judged it a racing incident and Brawn feels that one of them should take responsibility as Lewis Hamilton did after the race when his Mercedes knocked Alex Albon's Red Bull off the track.
 
“I wouldn’t want to venture an opinion on who was most at fault for the collision,” said Brawn after the race as quoted by RaceFans.net.

“But in the cold light of day, maybe it would be good if one of them will follow Hamilton’s example and immediately admit culpability, as the champion did regarding his clash with Albon.

 “It’s never nice when teammates knock one another out of a race, even more so when it’s not even a particularly important result that goes begging, as in this case, third place in Brazil was the most they could aspire to.”

The Briton now believes it is down to Scuderia team principal Mattia Binotto to sort things out.

“After tensions flared in the races following the summer break, everything seemed to have calmed down in the Ferrari dressing room,” he added.

“But now, Mattia Binotto faces the tough task of getting things back on track and indeed he said just that in his interviews after the race.

“If Ferrari really wants to put an end to Mercedes’ dominance, not only does it need to provide its drivers with a more competitive car next year, it must also ensure that incidents like this one are not repeated.

“Formula 1 is a team sport, especially so in Maranello.”