Mika Hakkinen says Charles Leclerc made a mistake agreeing to help Sebastian Vettel at the Russian Grand Prix.
Leaving Sochi, there was discontent at the Italian team with the Monegasque unhappy that his teammate ignored a team order to let him through after allowing him to take the lead at the start.
However, the double world champion claims Leclerc shouldn’t have expected anything different from Vettel and was therefore naive.
“After starting from pole position, it all went wrong when he agreed to give Sebastian a tow down the long straight to the first proper corner, Turn 2,” Hakkinen wrote in his Unibet column
“In agreeing to give Sebastian the lead it opened up the opportunity for him to control the race, which he did perfectly.
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“There is tension in Ferrari between the drivers, and Charles is learning some tough lessons. Including the fact that Sebastian did not win four world championships by being a pushover,” the Finn added.
“Compared to Mercedes, Ferrari does not yet have the perfect teamwork between the drivers, and they need to do that if they are going to win consistently. Fighting inside a team never works.”
For Leclerc, his first year at Ferrari has been all about finding his feet at the most prestigious team on the grid and he explained how tough that task has been.
“In the beginning, there is always a bit of awe, even when I arrived in Alfa Romeo, but the team was smaller and I settled in immediately, while in Ferrari it was another story,” he said via GPFans.
“In the first few races, trying to adapt to the car seemed right to do so.
“Then race after race I saw that the team was also willing to try to meet me, so I took the opportunity to say what I wanted, and we worked together in that direction. It was a very positive step.
“If you don’t have the right relationship with your technicians it’s a problem, you have to be completely tuned with those who work for you.”
Leclerc’s biggest improvement has come in qualifying where has now taken six poles, including the past four and has beaten Vettel at every race since Austria.
“I changed the approach in my head,” he said. “First I always gave 100 per cent, in every situation, but when you are always at the limit, the margins are smaller.
“Now I use Q1 and Q2 to get the latest information, checking in every corner if there is something to remember, and then I try to put it all together in Q3.”