“He needs to work on is his communication with the team”: Jacques Villeneuve slams Charles Leclerc for post-race rage

Former F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve questions Charles Leclerc’s fury on Ferrari’s mismanagement during the 2022 British GP.

The 2022 British Grand Prix was a set of highs and lows for Ferrari. Carlos Sainz who grabbed the pole position won the race after a thrilling finish to the race. Meanwhile, Ferrari’s star driver, Charles Leclerc fell short of tyre grip after a questionable strategy.

The Monegasque was denied a fresh set of tyres after Ferrari decided not to pit Leclerc when the Safety car was called out following Esteban Ocon’s engine failure. Ferrari decided to call Sainz and decided to swap out his old set of Hard Tyres for a fresh new set of Softs.

The same strategy was followed by Mercedes and Red Bull who called Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez. Leclerc was overtaken by Sainz as he could not keep up with the Spaniard who was having the advantage of fresher, quicker tyres.

Sainz got to taste Champagne on the top step of the podium for the first time in his F1 career. Things got sour for Charles as both Perez and Hamilton would pass him in the last few laps, relegating him from P1 to P4,

Charles was fuming at the team orders and the decision to not pit him with a competitive set of Soft tyres. Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto was seen explaining the calls made by the team post-race.

Former World champion bashes Ferrari superstar

The 1997 F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve commented on the following incident as the Canadian Driver has experienced such incidents beforehand. He was not impressed with Ferrari’s strategy but advised Leclerc to be a tad bit more humble.

“I understand Leclerc’s anger after the race, this is another example of a conservative strategy. What he does need to work on is his communication with the team.”

Villeneuve added, “Sure, Sainz was slower yesterday, but a one-two was definitely on. The moment they made the tyre change made sense otherwise, because they were losing the race at that moment. But that was not the case in the previous phase.”

“Then Leclerc spoke as if he had already definitively been declared lead driver and he is not, including contractually. It’s too early for that, Sainz still has a chance.”

Also Read: Carlos Sainz insists Ferrari teammate would have been overtaken by Lewis Hamilton regardless of strategy

Villeneuve praised Charles Leclerc for giving 100% despite a damaged car

However, Villeneuve applauded Leclerc for managing to keep the car in the front row throughout the majority of the race. This is despite the Monagesque picking up damage from the

“What I liked about Leclerc’s race was how fast he was with a damaged front wing,” Villeneuve added. “Maybe they should take another look at the design because the car seemed to do just fine.”

But the Canadian Former World Champion bashed the Ferrari mismanagement for their failure to pit Leclerc. “But there was no logic behind the decision to let him continue on the hard tyres after the safety car in the final phase, they gave away a one-two there.”

Leclerc still holds P3 in the F1’s 2022 Drivers Championship with teammate Sainz at 4th with just an 11-point deficit. With Max Verstappen only finishing P7 in the British GP, the difference between Leclerc and the Dutchman is cut

Also Read: Ferrari fans react to Charles Leclerc losing out on a podium due to a questionable race strategy