Charles Leclerc bemoans crucial Ferrari decision after finishing fourth at Silverstone

Charles Leclerc felt that Ferrari’s decision not to pit him and hand him quicker tyres ‘lost so much time’, as he slipped from first to fourth during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The Scuderia driver was spotted after the race in a heated exchange with team principal Mattia Binotto, who was keen to explain Ferrari’s decision to keep him out on hard tyres whilst simultaneously pitting team-mate and eventual race-winner Carlos Sainz. 

As Esteban Ocon stopped on the track and prompted a safety car with 12 laps to go, Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez were told to box and take on fresh tyres, whilst Leclerc was left out with track position.

The Ferrari driver missed out on a podium after his team told him to stay out during a safety car

Sainz immediately overtook his team-mate on the first straight after the restart and cruised to his first ever race win, before Perez and Hamilton bypassed the 24-year-old to clinch positions on the podium.

As a result, third-placed Leclerc was unable to close the gap meaningfully to world-champion and driver standing’s leader Max Verstappen, who crossed the line seventh after a sub-par afternoon.

Leclerc said: ‘I had hards and everybody else was on softs. In the end I gave my absolute best.

‘It wasn’t enough and obviously it’s disappointing.’ 

With 12 laps to go, he stayed out whilst Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton pitted

Both his team-mate, the Red Bull and the Mercedes overtook Leclerc to down him to fourth

The Monegasque driver was also keen to clear up what was said during his heated conversation with Binotto after the race.

‘He wanted to cheer me up and that’s it,’ Leclerc said.

‘We will have to look at the global picture. From my side I only have my race. From my side I feel like I lost so much time. 

‘This is only my view but I have not seen the full picture.

‘I don’t want the focus to be pointed to my disappointing race. For my teammate to win a first race in Formula One is very special.’

As a result, Ferrari’s Sainz (pictured) went on to claim the first race win of his career with ease

Binotto stressed during his interview with Sky Sports that there was ‘nothing to sort out internally’ following his tense conversation with Leclerc.

He said: ‘It was simply to tell him “I understand your disappointment, but you did a fantastic race today”.

‘He was fighting at the start, and fighting later on when he was not on the softs. The way he was driving there, protecting the position, was amazing. 

‘So being happy is difficult, but staying calm and positive is important.’