?Was Leclerc right to deny Vettel a last quali tow?

No, he wasn’t right to do it, but I think the confusion of that stupid lap, with everything going nuts around him, I think LeClerc started to panic that he wouldn’t get his own lap in, and when vettel himself, seemingly only making half hearted attempts to get clear enough for a run, didn’t move soon enough, LeClerc decided to ensure his own lap, rather than hang around and miss out completely. Therefore, I have to forgive the guy his mistake. I hope it doesn’t cause issues with Seb for future races, but I can’t think of any that require the tow to such an extent

 

certainly the Mercedes were supposedly able to find some more speed in the last lap had they got it in, and we know LeClerc/Ferrari pace already, so you are right, likely another Elton pole, and then we are hoping for a slipstream at the start or we automatically lose

 

In light of Vettel's race, it doesn't matter. Vettel not getting a good slipstream from Charles in qualifying is down to team tactics not being the best. Fortunately for them, other teams messed up too. And in the end, would it have been better to have Vettel spin out and cause trouble from P1 or P2?

 

I don't think it was a matter of yes or no at Monza. It was the weird Q3 scenario as a whole that "denied" Vettel a tow. It was not Leclerc's decision in the least.

 

How was he to pass those going slow in front of him? Look, the whole thing is a lesson learned the hard way. They were ALL complicit. It was interesting that you mention Binotto because ultimately, this whole mess can be laid at the feet of the team managers, no?

 

Vettel is done, finished, finito, etc.! Lec shall not collaborate with Vettel anymore.

 

Team discipline comes first always but I don't get exactly what the problem is. A lot of caos in that lap but Leclerc was ahead of Vettel at the Parabolica to give the tow.

 

Make-up your mind: Mark Hughes in "Motorsport Magazine" has this to say: (this is why Binotto said to Leclerc after he has won in the radio "Congratulations, Charles; everything else is forgotten": this is the "everything else")

Rgds

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/2019-italian-grand-prix-race-report-steely-leclercs-monza-masterclass

[…] Vettel — who had towed Leclerc to that provisional pole — was clearly animated about Leclerc, who was supposed to be returning the favour on this run but was backing off and not forcing his way through the dawdlers. Leclerc was keen to get a tow from one of them and was prioritising that more than his agreement with the team about towing Vettel to a time that might beat his own provisional pole. Seb eventually got by the Renault and McLaren but then backed off again, instructed to let Leclerc repass to give the tow. At this point Sainz repassed Vettel and was the only one to make it across the line before the chequer. Hamilton mistakenly thought it had been the Ferrari drivers doing the blocking at the front.

Vettel was furious with Leclerc and later commented: “I thought we had spoken about it. I definitely listened to what we intended to do… but we weren’t doing what we were supposed to do and that’s why it was a mess and I didn’t get a run in the end. I’m not entirely happy because I thought it was clear what we communicated beforehand… I was the one trying to indicate ‘Get out of the way’ because it was clear that I should be the one behind in the second run and getting a tow, because I was the first one in the first run. People were slowing down, Charles was slowing down and in the end I didn’t get across the line… The [first run] was good, the car was very good and I had a really good lap. I just had no tow. That was the difference between pole and not pole today.”

A full and frank discussion reportedly followed in the Ferrari debrief and Leclerc was held accountable. He’s had tougher things than that to deal with and, rather like Hamilton at Hungary 2007, was quite willing to graduate from grateful apprentice to a hard, seasoned pro ready to fight his own corner even at the expense of team harmony. Something very significant happened at Ferrari on Saturday.

 

Vettel only .15 down in his quali lap shows he had a great lap...tow is worth 2+ tenths.

 

Exactly. His posistion was correct. It was NOT Leclerc's fault that time ran out. Silly discussion.

 

Vettel finally got a taste of his own medicine from his Red Bull days.

 

Can not claim Leclerc denied something when it never happened.

 

"Multi 21, Seb, Multi 21..."

 

"In the larger scheme" that whole farcial situation would never have happened. What wasn't fair to Vettel was also not "fair" to EVERYONE involved, including the fans. It's silly to try to assign blame to Leclerc or any one individual regarding this cluster ****.

 

Leclerc was sacrificed for the benefit of Vettel for half of the season.

Now he has asserted himself and showed who is de facto Number One at Ferrari.

 

He won the race, so in my book he made the right call to get himself the pole and win the race. Ferrari need more like this from him. The drought has gone on for far too long.

 

Go Charles Go!
Enough Vettel, he has been giving inconsistent performance and clearly has lost the fire...
He can't make it happen... He needs to see a sports motivational psychologist and/or retire... He has not been right ever since he brake checked Hamilton in Baku and kept making mistakes and throwing two good years away....
Enough is Enough... Thank Goodness we have Leclerc now, a ray of sunshine and hope...

 

Elton brake checked him, and seb merely gave him a little tap coming up alongside to make the prat aware that seb was angry about it. He was lucky really, if I was seb I’d have put him square in the wall


Forza Ferrari..... the only racing team and car marque that matters. Italia forever It’s easier to apologise than it is to ask permission

 

I really hate Mercedes both Toto Wolf and Hamilton's characterization of events and just for being such sour pusses....
All these comments about new drivers being reckless and veiled threats etc...
Fact is, if you look at the video, Charles' car was 1/2 a car length in front of Hamilton, the reckless move was from Lewis, because there was simply no room to execute his pass on the outside since Charles was on the inside and half a car length ahead. Lewis was going to force the pass on Charles by intimidation.
Love the way Charles handled the press and the entire BS around the "mistakes" he purportedly made; if it was Verstappen instead of Leclerc this would have been characterized as good driving by the Dutch.
Also, shame on Binotto to bring "the mistake" from Saturday at a time when Charles had just saved Ferrari-Nation from a near-decade drought of victories at Monza and reenergized the Tifosi from that drawn-out mediocre B-/C+ performance of Vettel over the past few years ...

 

+1 and Charles may have saved Binotto's ass with this win.