Charles Leclerc

The Ferrari chief had an angry-looking driver on his hands after the race at Silverstone, as Charles Leclerc fumed over missing out on the podium while ...

The way he was driving there, protecting the position, was amazing. "There's Binotto saying 'do not criticise the team'," said Sky pundit Martin Brundle as he watched the footage. Sergio Perez was comfortably second, while Lewis Hamilton scrapped with and beat Leclerc to the final podium spot in what was an epic race that had everything.

Ferrari have defended their strategy for Charles Leclerc at the British GP, where the team's decisions appeared to favour Carlos Sainz, and cost the ...

They could have easily had time to bring both cars in and put both cars onto soft tyres and not left Charles vulnerable to attack at the end of the race. "This is the point. "This is critical this is the biggest moment for Leclerc's race. Receiving the cheers from the crowd and so many of my fellow drivers… When we got to the restart, he had no grip. This was where the team order was called with Sainz moving out of the way of Leclerc, so Leclerc was in front, and he had more pace. "Fast forward on and at Lap 21 the two Ferrari drivers are doing battle. "This is only my view, and it might change once I see the full picture." Obviously being happy is difficult, but staying calm and being positive is important." Jenson Button on Ferrari not pitting Charles Leclerc: "Obviously that cost him the victory." "There is nothing to sort out internally," he insisted. "We decided to stop Carlos in P2 because Charles had got the track position.

Ferrari principal Mattia Binotto said Charles Leclerc was kept out during the Safety Car at Silverstone in order to preserve track position.

So obviously being happy is difficult but staying calm and I think being positive is important.” But that’s not what we thought was the right decision.” Because the others were just behind and you cannot lose not even a second at the pit stop trying to organise it. “So you don’t know what the others would have done, if he would have stopped as a leader. So we had to make a choice between the first or the second car. Binotto said though that he was actually trying to emphasise to his driver that despite the disappointment, his performance in the race was “fantastic”.

Charles Leclerc was looking well-placed in the British Grand Prix to take his first victory since Melbourne back in April. That was until a late Safety Car ...

I was just trying to do my best to keep the cars behind but obviously on a new soft and a used hard, it’s quite a big difference. But obviously with the Safety Car at the end, we decided to leave the lead car out and to pit the [trailing] car, which was myself and Carlos, and it didn’t pay off for me, so it’s a big disappointment. I saw the front wing fly off and I was like, ‘that doesn’t look good.’

The championship frontrunner after three races, Leclerc has seen his challenge derailed by a string of poor results, some of them self-inflicted wounds like ...

Leclerc has seen his title challenge fade with a string of Ferrari failures. If there was any consolation for Leclerc it was that it was a no less disappointing afternoon for the Dutchman, who had car issues of his own and finished seventh. "I don't know yet," said Leclerc when asked why he wasn't brought in ahead of Sainz. "It was obviously very late (the call) and they made the decision to stay, said "stay out", so I cannot come in obviously if we are aligned and that was it."

The Scuderia driver was spotted after the race in a heated exchange with team principal Mattia Binotto, who was keen to explain Ferrari's decision to keep ...

The way he was driving there, protecting the position, was amazing. For my teammate to win a first race in Formula One is very special.' From my side I feel like I lost so much time. The Ferrari driver missed out on a podium after his team told him to stay out during a safety car As Esteban Ocon stopped on the track and prompted a safety car with 12 laps to go, Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez were told to box and take on fresh tyres, whilst Leclerc was left out with track position. The Scuderia driver was spotted after the race in a heated exchange with team principal Mattia Binotto, who was keen to explain Ferrari's decision to keep him out on hard tyres whilst simultaneously pitting team-mate and eventual race-winner Carlos Sainz.

Leclerc's misfortune at Silverstone was to the advantage of his team-mate Carlos Sainz, a popular, likeable, thoughtful and top-drawer driver who took a long- ...

It left Leclerc a sitting duck - Sainz said he knew it would be "easy" to pass him at the restart. "If we would have stopped, maybe the others would have stayed out and he would have been fourth on soft tyres but other cars ahead. We had the two cars first and second, before the safety car." This championship was already looking a long shot for Leclerc after his recent run. "We just need to put everything together." "Every team is different," he said. He tried, but still Hamilton closed in, and eventually they called him in for what at the time was planned to be his only pit stop. It could have been a lot worse than that." "It is always easy to say we could have done differently, yes. Ferrari told Leclerc he was free to race. But when asked how concerning it was for his championship hopes that the team keeps making mistakes, he said: "It's not good. It tore a hole in his car's floor, and took him out of contention.

Leclerc and Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto claimed there was no animosity in a tense-looking chat at Silverstone, but not everyone is buying that explanation ...

"He was pushing his team-mate round and in the end they swapped them over, gave him the lead, but the bad pitstop call at the end there with the safety car. As he did so, Sky Sports cameras caught what looked to be a frosty exchange between the racer and team chief Binotto, who was wagging his finger. It came after he was not called into the pits to change tyres when the safety car was deployed late into the race, while most of those around him were.

Charles Leclerc says his finger-wagging talk with Mattia Binotto after the British GP was about the pit stop "among other things".

So obviously being happy is difficult, but staying calm and I think being positive is important.” For me it wasn’t the right decision, but it’s like this.” “I think the way he was driving there, protecting the position, was amazing. “I think it was simply to tell him ‘I understand your disappointment but you did a fantastic race today’, fighting at the start, fighting later on when he was on hards and the others on softs. “I was the first car at the SC, we split, the car in front stayed out. Leclerc, with his 16-lap-old hard tyres, was a sitting duck at the restart, not having the pace or grip to defend and he soon lost the lead – and the win – to his team-mate.

BBC F1 broadcaster Jolyon Palmer has criticised Ferrari's approach to the British Grand Prix after Charles Leclerc missed out on a podium.

I don’t think you could actually confidently say Leclerc is the dominant championship contender in that team now. In all of them, he has had two retirements, two fourths and a fifth. “Leclerc was the stronger driver at Ferrari today. “The management have some questions to answer because Leclerc should have been taking big points out of Verstappen today. There were also question marks over whether they should have let Leclerc through past Sainz earlier on when Leclerc was so much quicker. Leclerc finished in fourth place, having missed out on a likely victory after a late Safety Car halted his charge.

FERRARI driver Charles Leclerc was seen to be engaged in an aggressive conversation with team boss Mattia Binotto after the British Grand Prix at ...

“And then after the restart behind the safety car again, the way he was driving and protecting his position is amazing and outstanding. “And for him today was a great opportunity in terms of the championship because he was leading while Max had some problems. He has been once again unlucky today, because a safety car when you are leading a few laps to the end, is somehow bad luck. Leclerc slid down the grid as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton also passed him to complete the podium. Red Bull star Verstappen got off to a solid start and appeared to be set to secure a comfortable win before debris on the track damaged the floor of his car. However, a breathless final few laps of the dramatic British Grand Prix saw Leclerc ultimately miss out on a podium spot.