Charles Leclerc has revealed how he was instructed to stay out by Ferrari during the sequence of events which left Lewis Hamilton frustrated in the Dutch Grand Prix.
Around half-distance, Hamilton closed up to the back of Leclerc on fresher tyres, having run long in the first stint after the red flag restart, and all but requested to be let through to continue his advance.
However, Leclerc was locked in an undercut/overcut battle with George Russell at the time, and initially appeared to disobey a team order to pit, and clear the path for Hamilton, with the Briton eventually getting past next time around when the Monegasque did pit.
Ultimately, Hamilton finished fourth, right on the tail of Russell for third, and felt the time lost behind Leclerc could have made the difference, but Leclerc has explained how he never got an order to cede position to Hamilton and was actually told to stay out, as he eventually finished in fifth, himself right behind Hamilton.
"These are the kind of choices that we need to speak of. For me, the thing that I want to look at is more the second stop actually, where we were pushing George to stop, and once he stopped, yes, Lewis was arriving, but two laps later I was requested to box," Leclerc explained to media, including RacingNews365s
"For me it was very important to create a tire delta to the Mercedes in order to come back strong at the end, and we didn't quite do that, so we need to look at why.
"I was very surprised to box so early when we had done exactly what we wanted. With George pitting, that was time for us to do five or 10, laps longer to build a tyre delta time to come back on the end at the end on George.
"Two laps later, I was told to box, which I did, I think three laps later.
"There wasn't much debate. I was asked to stop, and then towards the end of the lap, I was asked to stay on-track, which I did, and then the lap later, I was asked to stop.
"I didn't have any message on [on letting Hamilton past]. At the end of the day, I was focusing on my pace and trying to do the best I could for my race. I had a very good first stint. I had to stop early to try and undercut the guys in front, and that's a bit of a team game.
"Sometimes you've got to put yourself in a little bit of risk, especially in the first stint for that, and Lewis was very strong on the second stint, but it's the way it goes.
"So I think sometimes I'll be frustrated. Sometimes Lewis will be frustrated, but it's the way it is.
"It's one position for the team. It doesn't change anything, so it's not that I'm disappointed or feeling any kind of way about that; it just felt like the luck wasn't really on our side, with the virtual safety car timing not being less than ideal timing for us.
"But at the same time, it's the way it is. I felt like before the break, I had the luck a little bit by my side for two, three races, and sometimes you get to know the other side of the coin, which I did [in the Dutch GP]."
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