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ANDREFORMULA 1Sebastian Vettel believes that Ferrari has been a
victim of “poor journalism” amid ongoing scrutiny
of the team’s use of team orders in Formula 1,
which Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has warned
could “open a can of worms”.
Under new team principal Mattia Binotto, Ferrari
has attempted to set a clear policy on team orders
after suffering from indecision in recent seasons.
Binotto has identified Vettel as the priority in
“fifty-fifty” situations because the four-time world
champion is considered a better title bet compared
to his young, new team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Early in the Chinese Grand Prix, Ferrari told
Leclerc he would be asked to move aside for Vettel
if he could not pick up his pace. He was then asked
to let Vettel past, because Leclerc seemed to be
struggling more with his tyres and the team wanted
to release Vettel to try to keep pace with the
dominant Mercedes duo out front – only for Vettel
to go slower, but maintain third place as Leclerc
fell to fifth behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Vettel played down the role of team orders in the
title battle and said he was “keen to expand much
further because it’s always a bit difficult, especially
what you make out of the answer”. Asked if there
was a specific story in mind, Vettel said: “Not really,
it’s just poor journalism from my point of view.
But I’m not a journalist to judge. So you shouldn’t
take my judgement personally.”
When asked if he had requested the order, or
if it was fair, Vettel said: “I knew the moment itwas happening that I would have to face these
questions. Not sure I want to answer because I’m
a little bit against the way you – all of you – work,
because you take bits out of answers here and there
and put it into the wrong light. So, if you ask me
again in half an hour down in the paddock, maybe
I give you a straightforward answer and you don’t
write it down or record. Seems the way that, not
maybe all of you, but some of you are working.”
Vettel said the conversation about a number one
or number two driver was not “frustrating – it’s
just a pain to answer the same questions over and
over”. The repeated questioning has come despite
Ferrari’s position remaining largely consistent:
a desire to let its drivers race but putting Vettel
first in so-called “fifty-fifty” scenarios.
Binotto first raised the prospect of Vettel
receiving preferential treatment, should Ferrari
deem it necessary, at the team’s launch of its 2019
car. He has faced further questioning at every turn
since, although this has not been helped by team
orders being applied in all three races so far.
In Australia, Binotto said the drivers could
race one another, but Ferrari told Leclerc to hold
position when he asked if he could attack Vettel
late on. Binotto explained that it was not worth
risking anything over fourth and fifth places. In
Bahrain Leclerc ignored a command to stay behind
Vettel and passed him for the lead. Both drivers
downplayed the incident because Leclerc was so
much faster and the pass was easy to make. But it
meant that Ferrari faced questions over team orders
in the build-up to China and after the race thanksVETTEL SLATES MEDIA FOR TEAM-