Breaking news
Formula 1 Bahrain GP
Vettel, Leclerc "need to work as a team" at start in Bahrain
Sebastian Vettel reckons he and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc "need to work as a team" at the start of Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, after qualifying one-two on the grid.
Ben Anderson
Edited: Mar 30, 2019, 5:19 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Leclerc beat his four-time world champion teammate by almost three tenths of a second in qualifying at the Sakhir circuit to claim his maiden pole position in F1.
Ferrari suggested pre-season it would favour Vettel in the world championship and issued a team order for its drivers to hold position in fourth and fifth in the final stages of the Australian GP.
When asked to clarify the team orders situation at Ferrari, and whether the drivers are allowed to race each other, team boss Mattia Binotto said: "Charles is allowed to go as fast as he can. He's allowed to go for pole, he's allowed to stay ahead. We are not stopping him doing that.
"I think it is important that our two drivers are not fighting and taking any risks battling together."
Asked by Motorsport.com how they would approach the first corner in Bahrain given Ferrari's rules of engagement, both drivers agreed the need to work with rather than against each other.
"We have a very, very tough race ahead of us tomorrow," Vettel said. "We need to work as a team and try to make sure we stay first and second.
"We'll see how it goes. I think it is pretty clear, Charles starts ahead. He has the advantage of pole position."
Leclerc said: "To be completely honest we haven't done the pre-race meeting yet, so at the moment I don't know – if you ask me I will do absolutely everything to keep my first place but, as you say, we're a team also and we need to work together."
After qualifying seven tenths off Mercedes in Melbourne Ferrari was three tenths clear in Bahrain and Vettel paid tribute to his team's hard work in facilitating the turnaround.
"We are both much happier with the car this weekend," Vettel said.
"The credit really goes to the team because it is a team effort - both of us didn't feel happy with the car in Melbourne, and team did very, very hard work trying to understand why.
"We had some answers coming here proving today we are capable of running at the front and fighting for pole, locking out the front row for Ferrari.
"It is a great testament of their work."
Binotto added: "I will not go into the details. I think what was important was the team remained united, concentrated, we worked all together. So, merit to the team."
Leclerc was pleased to rectify his Melbourne mistake of failing to string his three best sectors together in Q3 and Binotto praised his young driver's efforts in securing pole.
"He's a good kid, and being a good kid, we will love him, as we love Sebastian," Binotto said. "It's great for the team, it's great for him. It will not be his last one."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Sainz: Bahrain result "unthinkable" three months ago
Next article Gasly can't drive "unpredictable" Red Bull how he wants
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Ben Anderson
How Lauda won F1's closest ever title battle
Formula 1
Formula 1 May 20, 2021
How Lauda won F1's closest ever title battle
Testing the tiers of Porsche's motorsport ladder
Porsche
Porsche Feb 9, 2020
Testing the tiers of Porsche's motorsport ladder
Track Test: Lamborghini Super Trofeo
General
General Dec 18, 2019
Track Test: Lamborghini Super Trofeo
More from
Sebastian Vettel
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
WEC
WEC 15 d
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
Sebastian Vettel reveals why BMW didn't want him – but Red Bull did
Formula 1
Formula 1 15 d
Sebastian Vettel reveals why BMW didn't want him – but Red Bull did
More from
Ferrari
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 d
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
Latest news
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 1 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 1 h
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
1 h
Las Vegas GP reveals neon sign-inspired trophy design
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe