Ferrari will continue to try and manage Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc despite giving them equal status in 2020.
The arrival of the Monegasque in just his second season provided a unique challenge for the Italian team as they had to cope with their youngest driver in half a century going up against a four-time world champion.
An initial approach of giving Vettel ‘priority’ would backfire, however, as team orders were used in the opening three races against Leclerc but team boss Mattia Binotto explained why.
“It is often said we should have let them race in the very first race. We are still very convinced that trying to manage them is the best way in order to score team points when you get to the end of the season,” Binotto declared.
“And we believe that if you are optimising the team points at the end as well, you also optimise what may be the outcome for the drivers. So we were trying to manage them in the very first race.
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“Believe me, that type of meeting at the very start of the season was full of embarrassments and difficult to manage,” the Ferrari chief added.
“But we are now getting used to it and by the end of the season, it became more and more comfortable, which means that we are getting used to it as a team. In the race, we can still make eventually mistakes but I’m pretty sure that mistakes are part of this process.”
Indeed, some mistakes and moments of tension did emerge, notably in Sochi and Brazil, both of which could largely be blamed on Vettel.
But while that early approach has changed to equal status for 2020, Binotto insists that won’t stop him from intervening if necessary.
“I believe that we can be stronger next year. We now have meetings with the drivers before the race to discuss scenarios, what may happen, what can be the team’s strategy,” he revealed.
“And the reason for needing to manage them is high because both of them are good drivers and need to be respected as individuals. Both of them, when starting the race, they have one objective – which is not beating their teammate, but being first under the chequered flag.”