Ferrari needs to be careful with team orders - Brawn

F1 motorsport director and former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn believes Ferrari must carefully manage the situation between Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc.

It has not taken long for the young charger new to the Ferrari team to take on the established four-time world champion head-to-head but that has created a new issue for Ferrari according to Brawn.

Current team principal Mattia Binotto has previously stated that Vettel with receive backing in 50/50 situations however Brawn insists that the relationship and dynamic between the team and its drivers must be handled with care.

"Mattia Binotto finds himself having to manage what is definitely a new situation for Ferrari, in the shape of two drivers fighting at a very high level," Brawn said after the race in China.

"For now, Mattia is managing the situation well, dealing on the one hand with the talented young Leclerc, while managing the valuable resource that is Vettel, who as a four-time world champion has shown himself capable of dealing with pressure in the past.

"This is definitely a tricky year for Sebastian and the podium in Shanghai will have been a confidence boost, while Charles has shown great maturity in accepting team decisions that are not easy to digest.

"The first three races have confirmed that if Ferrari wants to challenge Mercedes everything has to be perfect at all levels: performance, reliability and teamwork."