Ex-Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger disagrees with the thinking behind the Scuderia’s decision to prioritise Sebastian Vettel.
Last weekend’s race in China saw the clearest example of team orders yet when Charles Leclerc was asked to allow his teammate through with the belief he was faster than the Monegasque.
That didn’t turn out to be the case and later Leclerc’s race would be compromised further by a poor strategy, leading to more questions after the race.
Charles eventually accepted the reasoning for Ferrari’s decision, somewhat reluctantly, but Berger thinks the 21-year-old is being unfairly compromised.
“As much as I like Sebastian and rate him, here is a boy [Leclerc] who is capable of winning the championship,” he told the BBC.
“I don’t think it’s enough to say, ‘Well this one is experienced, this one is not experienced so we take the card of the experience’. I think let it run.
“It’s a question of when it is [acceptable], and is it really giving somebody not even a chance to win the Championship?
“And if you do it in the first or second race, I don’t agree,” he added.
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Berger also questioned the decision of Vettel to ask for a team order in Shanghai.
“He brought himself a little bit into this situation because it was up to him to ask,” he told Motorsport.com.
“If you’re not sure you can pull away, in this situation it was maybe not the best thing to do because soon you’re going to have two camps.
“No question, Sebastian has a difficult role at the moment,” the Austrian added.
“Having the young boy at the neck, having to deliver a championship for Ferrari and to win the championship means beating Lewis [Hamilton]. That’s maybe the biggest headache!”
