Charles Leclerc hit out at his Ferrari team on the radio after finishing fourth at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Leclerc appeared to be angry at not beating team-mate Carlos Sainz, who was on the podium in third, having lost out in the final pit stops.
In a foul-mouthed radio rant, Leclerc said “I did my job” but alluded that “being nice” puts him on the backfoot, before adding “it’s not even being nice, it’s just being respectful”.
Leclerc was fighting for the lead in the early stages of the Las Vegas Grand Prix but took too much out of his tyres, so let Sainz through.
Before the second round of pit stops, Sainz allowed Leclerc to get by but the Spaniard pitted first and undercut his team-mate.
The pair ran together to the chequered flag after that, both overtaking world champion Max Verstappen, with Sainz taking his third podium from the last four races.
“Every time there are these kind of frustrations, there’s no background for people,” Leclerc told Sky Sports F1.
“There’s no need for me to go into details of what we discussed. Frustrating yes, but it doesn’t change anything from the team but it is a bit for the driver. Second place is always nice but at the end of the day, it’s OK.
“I did my part in the first stint, when I had tyres that were gone. I didn’t want to fight at that point so I let Carlos by. The rest we will discuss within the team.”
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Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz reflects on a dramatic race at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, in which George Russell claimed P1 and Max Verstappen won his fourth world title
Asked if he felt Ferrari favoured Sainz, Leclerc said: “No, it’s not about favouring one or the other. It’s about things that were told that weren’t respected. But that’s all good. I’ve already said too much and don’t want to go into details.
“It’s just frustrating when it’s like this and frustrating for me, but I can understand that nobody understands that.”
Sainz: We achieved the maximum result
Ferrari reduced their deficit to McLaren to 24 points in the Constructors’ Championship, with two events to go in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Sainz, who is joining Williams in 2025, was also not entirely happy despite finishing on the podium.
“There was a situation where I let Charles by and I lost a lot of time and I’m not happy about that, but Mercedes were simply the quickest car today. Maybe one way or another they would have beaten us anyway,” he said.
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Highlights from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, where George Russell started on pole and Max Verstappen was looking to claim his fourth world title
“A podium and P4 is the maximum. What I’m not happy about is the execution of the race. I think we can do a lot better than that but it is what it is.
“I don’t like using the radio or media to criticise or demonstrate. I prefer to do that behind closed doors because there are never good outcomes from these comments.
“But I’m the first one that’s not happy, and I was the first one by pitting and trying to get out of the way.”
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