"They don’t need to ask the driver what he wants to do"- F1 pundit on possible trust issues between Ferrari and Charles Leclerc

Ferrari's prolonged discussion with their driver Charles Leclerc about strategy during the Belgian GP last weekend could be a possible trust issue between team and driver, reckons former F1 driver Johnny Herbert.

Leclerc had a lengthy discussion with the race engineer during the race where the Monagesque was quizzed on the strategy he wanted to use for the remainder of the race. The Ferrari man eventually finished sixth, losing a grid position for overspeeding during a late pitstop as the team chased the fastest lap of the race.

Contrary to a normal team radio conversation, this was a lengthy discussion between Leclerc and the race engineer, where quite a few details were asked from the driver before Ferrari nailed the final strategy.

Herbert told SkyF1 that it's unusual across the pitlane to have such a discussion with a driver, alluding a possible trust issue between Ferrari and Leclerc.

"You listen to that sort of conversation with Charles," said Herbert. They’re almost asking Charles, who’s sort of their strategist, what they want to do and how he wants to do it. That doesn’t happen anywhere else down the pit lane. They don’t need to ask the driver what he wants to do."

He continued:

"I think that’s just where there’s a little bit of … obviously trust has been hurt with all the issues, and I think it’s something that I think maybe Charles has sort of said, ‘Okay, I want to take control of this at the moment.’"

Herbert speculated whether such a dynamic could work, as Leclerc already has a lot on his shoulders returning Ferrari to winning ways after they were way off the pace compared to winners Red Bull. He said:

“That’s a strength, to be perfectly honest, and he knew what the car was doing, and he was able to stretch out that tyre as well. But you do need that team support at the same time. It can’t be just one way, and he’s got a lot of weight on his shoulders trying to get their car back to winning ways again.”

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Charles Leclerc's reflection on tough weekend for team at Belgian GP

Charles Leclerc's Belgian GP race started on the wrong note, as he had to pit early to remove a visor tear-off stuck inside the car.

Towards the end of the race, Ferrari called Leclerc into the pits and targeted an extra point for the fastest lap. Leclerc eventually missed that and also lost a position to Fernando Alonso because of speeding in the pitlane to exacerbate the team's woes.

After the race, the Ferrari driver was dejected as he reflected on a poor weekend. He said:

"We started well, then on lap 3 we unfortunately had a tear-off in the brake duct that meant I had to pit when I was in P9. That set us back quite a bit. From that moment on, I knew that it was going to be a difficult race. The feeling in the car was quite ok, but compared to our competitors we were lacking pace. They made a huge step leading up to this weekend and we have to work on closing the gap."

Leclerc is now 98 points behind Max Verstappen in the championship race as the Dutchman looks good for back-to-back world titles.