Leclerc about moment with Binotto: 'He was angry with me'

Charles Leclerc said after the British Grand Prix that there was nothing wrong between Mattia Binotto and himself, but in Austria he changed his mind. The Ferrari team boss was indeed angry with his driver.

It was a remarkable scene after the British GP. Leclerc had just seen victory slip from his hands due to a strategic blunder by his team and now had to make do with fourth place, while Carlos Sainz celebrated his first F1 win. Binotto faced Leclerc head on and the Monegasque now explains what really happened.

''I have already said it and I understand that it can cause doubt, but he was pissed-off. He was angry with me for being so down. He was trying to cheer me up, making everyone wonder why he was pointing his finger at me like that. He was just frustrated to see me so down after such a good race, but on the other hand he understood my disappointment,'' says the Ferrari driver at the Weekend Warm-Up.

At Ferrari the atmosphere seems tense internally anyway. After Sainz's victory some of the engineers had disappeared from the pit wall and not every employee seemed to have been present at the party and the team photo. People were said to be unhappy that Leclerc was again being bullied, but of course these are not great signs for a team fighting for the world title.