"I waited for the rain that never came" - Charles Leclerc blames Ferrari for strategic mishap during Brazilian GP qualifying

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc placed the blame for poor strategy solely on his team at the Brazilian GP qualifying on Saturday.

The driver was put on intermediate tyres in Q3 when every other driver on the field opted to go for slicks. Because of that poor choice, Leclerc had to come back to the pits and change to slicks again.

Meanwhile, George Russell beached his Mercedes in the gravel, ending all hopes of securing a strong grid position for Leclerc.

Talking to the media after the race, Leclerc said that he accepted the team's decision to go for intermediate tyres. Ferrari were hedging its bets by sending their two drivers out on different tyres. He said:

"We were expecting some rain that never came. I will speak to the team and understand what we can do better in those conditions but extremely disappointing; the pace was there. Now we need to get on it and obviously do everything good for the rest of the weekend. I accepted the decision to go on the inters, and then I waited for the rain that never came."

Looking at the predicament facing Leclerc, Damon Hill felt that Ferrari need to get their fundamentals right to fight at the front. He said:

"They just have to get the fundamentals right. What is going on in Ferrari and who is going to take charge of this situation because it has been going on all year. It is very upsetting in a way because you can see they have the potential, and Charles is criticising the team on the radio effectively by saying 'nice one guys' but he has to assume some responsibility as well."

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Charles Leclerc needs to assume responsibility at Ferrari

According to Hill, one of the problems faced by Leclerc is that the driver cannot assert any authority in the team.

The former Williams driver pointed out how Max Verstappen tends to command respect at Red Bull and maybe that's something Leclerc needs to do. He said:

"Maybe they aren't letting him do that, or maybe he hasn't got the courage to assume it for himself. I mean. could you imagine Max Verstappen saying 'what are we doing'. His personality is such that he commands attention, and I think that is part and parcel of being a leading driver in a team."

Leclerc will start the sprint in P10, and it will be interesting to see how much progress he's able to make.