Leclerc denies Ferrari bust-up - so why did Binotto privately visit?

Leclerc was visibly annoyed by Ferrari’s strategy at last weekend’s F1 British Grand Prix which caused him to fall from first to fourth-place - then watch teammate Carlos Sainz win the race.

Suggestions then emerged that some Ferrari team members opted against joining a celebratory photo with Sainz - which Leclerc denies.

Leclerc was visited by Binotto in Monaco and, ahead of the F1 Austrian Grand Prix, said about rumours of rifts within Ferrari: “This is untrue and I wish I didn’t get this [question], because it’s the exact question that I’ve got everywhere else.

“I wish I wouldn’t need to fight for this type of thing. We are extremely united.

“Is there disappointment after the last race because we finished first and fourth? Yes there was. 

“Were we very happy that Carlos won his first race? Yes we were, honestly.

“But obviously before the safety car you were first and second and you finished the race first and fourth so there’s some kind of disappointment too.

“[There’s] not any kind of division in the team.”

Why did Ferrari boss Binotto visit Leclerc?

Binotto was spotted wagging his finger at an annoyed Leclerc after the British Grand Prix.

“He was first quite angry with me after Silverstone because he saw me extremely down which obviously he understood but he just wanted to make sure that I was OK,” Leclerc said.

“And I realised that OK, I had done an amazing job considering the situation that I had found myself in after the safety car.”

Leclerc has not been on the podium for five races. The early championship leader is now trailing Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the title fight.

He explained being visited by Binotto: “Then in Monaco, something we usually do, he came to Monaco because the last five races have been quite hard on me, and I just wanted to stay at home and disconnect a bit from everything, to be fully 100% for this weekend.

“He just came to Monaco to speak about the last five races and to make sure it was all fine on my side.”