Charles Leclerc insists the air is clear now at Ferrari in the wake of his team orders controversy in Sochi.
Having agreed to tow teammate Sebastian Vettel to Turn 2 at the start, the German rebuffed messages from the pitwall to allow his teammate through per the plan made pre-race.
This led to more frustrated radio messages from Leclerc, following his unhappiness a week earlier in Singapore, but he is confident any differences have now been resolved.
“There were some misunderstandings from the car, but we’ve had a discussion and everything is clear now,” he said on Thursday in Suzuka.
“It felt like it was a huge deal from the outside – which it definitely wasn’t – but now everything is fine.”
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Asked exactly what had, had to be clarified, Leclerc added: “I think that’s clear from the beginning of the season, we need to obey team orders.
“What is clear is that the situation wasn’t clear for both of the drivers starting the race, so that’s the most important [thing]. We spoke about it and will make sure this situation doesn’t happen again in the future.”
Looking forward, another intriguing weekend awaits in Japan to see if Ferrari’s recent revival can be maintained, also, the battle for third in the Drivers’ standings is also heating up with Leclerc three points clear of Max Verstappen and 21 ahead of Vettel.
“Well the priority is always to do good for the team, but it’s the same at every team, Seb wants to beat me and I want to beat him just as much,” the 22-year-old said of his target.
“But the priority is to do the good for the team which we all do.”