Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Formula 1, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton
Rory O'Callaghan
Topics: Formula 1, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton
Charles Leclerc has made his feelings clear after Ferrari opted not to use Lewis Hamilton as a 'tow' for his teammate during Italian Grand Prix qualifying.
It was a disappointing afternoon for the Italian team as they were unable to get on the front row of the grid for their home race in Monza.
F1 world champion Max Verstappen claimed an impressive pole, while McLaren's Lando Norris secured second spot for Sunday's Grand Prix - with his teammate Oscar Piastri set to start from third.
Leclerc could only come fourth, followed by Hamilton - who will start the race from tenth spot due to a five-place grid penalty carried over from the Dutch Grand Prix.
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Hamilton was handed the penalty for not slowing sufficiently under double-waved yellow flags at Zandvoort, and it was expected that he would be used as a 'tow' for Leclerc during qualifying - boosting his teammate's hopes of pole position.
The tactic, which is also known as slipstream, is when one car drives closely behind another - allowing them to go faster and gaining valuable tenths of a second.
However, Ferrari opted not to use it during qualifying.
Speaking after the session, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur confirmed that it was an intentional decision not to deploy the tow strategy.
He said the team wanted Leclerc to focus on his tyre preparation ahead of his final qualification lap, rather than the tow.
"Even for Charles, because you are much more focused then on the tow, the gap with the car in front, than on the tyre preparation," he told the official F1 channel..
"And the tyre preparation is so important today that we decided to be focused on our own pace."
"It's important for the team and for the two drivers to be in a positive mood," Vasseur added.
However, Leclerc wasn't so upbeat in his own post session interview.
"As for the [Hamilton] tow - well. It wasn't up to me, we didn't go for it, it's whatever," he said, as reported by La Gazzetta Ferrari.
The Monegasque driver was keen to stress, however, that the failure to use the tow strategy was not the major story of the qualifying session.
"It's something we'll discuss with the team now, but obviously we need to... it's always tricky to get it perfectly right," he added, as reported by Motorsport.
"Lewis is still fighting to be starting as further up as possible, so yeah, we'll discuss about it, but I don't think it's the main point of today."