Ferrari had the worst possible Australian GP raceday, as none of the two drivers made it to the podium, despite Ferrari having a massive advantage during Barcelona testing.
Sebastian Vettel finished in P4, with Charles Leclerc being forced to settle for P5.
Ferrari have been vague with their answers about having a number 1 and number 2 in their team this season.
Charles Leclerc has admitted that Ferrari could have a number 1 and number 2 and it was upto him to put in good enough performances to convince the team that he could compete at the highest level with Sebastian Vettel and all the other championship competitors.
Now, while Ferrari had taken a dig at Mercedes last season for using team orders, they had to themselves use them in the first race of the the 2019 season.
Arrivabene had last year said that Ferrari hired drivers instead of butlers, but that comment has massively backfired today, as Ferrari asked Charles Leclerc to backoff and let Sebastian Vettel have some breathing space going into the final few laps of the race.
Charles: “Should I stay behind Sebastian? Yes or no?”
“Yes and back off to have some margin”
Charles: “Ok”
Check out the video:
Now, Sebastian Vettel seemed to be having some technical difficulties midway through the race when he had asked the pit wall why they were so slow. However, nothing has been confirmed from Ferrari, as even on the radio they were unsure as to what was the cause for the pace loss.
To Charles Leclerc’s credit, he asked his team before making any kind of move and from the conversation he had, it seems like Ferrari have decided to give Vettel the upper hand for at least the next few races.
