Formula 1 | Should Leclerc avoid criticizing Ferrari publicly?

Charles Leclerc was very critical of Ferrari during the Monaco Grand Prix. If he yelled at his engineer during the race after the double stop made by mistake, the Monegasque above all publicly warned his team.

Frustrated by a strategic error that cost him the victory, Leclerc explained after the finish that his team could not make such mistakes. Damon Hill, however, warns the Monegasque driver that he must be careful not to offend the Scuderia.

« I think they are big enough and Ferrari understands » Hill said. « But you can only criticize your team so many times before it becomes a public relations issue for the team. »

« People at Ferrari are not the ones who are going to give in here. If you have a driver against Ferrari, Ferrari will always win. So technically or diplomatically you have to be a little careful. »

Although Mattia Binotto defended Leclerc and accepted Ferrari’s mistake, other observers think Leclerc should be careful not to get out of hand with his team, and get it right before criticizing.

Don’t make mistakes to criticize Ferrari

This is the case of Jan Lammers, the director of the Dutch Grand Prix, who took up the subject with NOS and noted that Carlos Sainz succeeded in what Leclerc did not: « Sainz was very good at determining his own strategy. Leclerc can learn from that. »

« In these circumstances when it comes to whether the driver should put on the slicks or not on a semi-wet track, the driver ultimately makes the decision. He can say which tires he wants, basically. So I think Leclerc should think about that. »

Ralf Schumacher noted that Ferrari was in a panic during this sentence, not displaying a calmness similar to that of Red Bull: « You could hear on the radio how panicked they were. They didn’t know what to do with Leclerc and in the end they made the wrong decision. »

But the former driver agrees with Hill’s opinion, but for an unjustified reason, since the German highlights Leclerc’s mistakes… who only made one, at Imola: « He’s also made enough mistakes himself, so he has to stay humble. »

« These are things that happen. You win together and you lose together. The way I see it, Ferrari have done less harm so far this season than Leclerc himself. »

« On the other hand, Red Bull has learned a lot in recent years from the tough fight for the world championship with Mercedes, who have always been very strong strategically. They are now taking advantage of that. »