Formula 1: Ferrari set to continue prioritizing Sebastian Vettel

Scuderia Ferrari are set to continue prioritizing four-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel over teammate Charles Leclerc.

After spending four seasons prioritizing four-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel over 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen, Scuderia Ferrari have confirmed that they will continue to prioritize the 31-year-old German.

This is the case despite the fact that his new teammate, Charles Leclerc, has outperformed him through the first two races of the 2019 season, his first two races driving for the Italian team.

Ferrari have already prioritized Vettel over the 21-year-old Monegasque in both of these races, as they told a much faster Leclerc in fifth place to stay behind Vettel in fourth in the closing laps of the season opener, the Australian Grand Prix, before telling Leclerc not to pass Vettel after Vettel got around him at the start of the season’s second race, the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Leclerc defied the latter team order, as he was clearly faster than Vettel and passed him the following lap despite the fact that the team told him to wait at least two more laps before trying to take back the lead that he lost to his teammate from the pole position.

Before battling back to take the lead from Vettel, Leclerc also lost second place Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Valtteri Bottas and battled back to pass him.

As for the rest of the season, Ferrari are set to continue to prioritize Vettel, although that may change. Here is what Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto had to say about the matter, according to ESPN.

"“On the track they are free to fight, but as I said at the start of the season, if there’s any 50-50 situation where we need to take a decision, the advantage would have been given to Sebastian, simply because Sebastian has got most of the experience with the team. He won four championships and certainly for us he’s the driver who has the most probability to challenge for the title [in 2019]. Certainly as a team, we need to give the priority to the team and try to maximize the team’s points at the end of the race. Something we have agreed with both drivers is, in a few races’ time, things may change for whatever reason. Bad luck or whatever could be the situation [but] we may change our position, no doubt.”"

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Despite the fact that Vettel has been given priority over Leclerc so far this season and the fact that an engine issue cost Leclerc what would have been a dominant Bahrain Grand Prix victory, Leclerc currently sits ahead of Vettel in the driver standings.

With finishes of fifth and third in the season’s first two races, respectively, Leclerc has earned 26 points so far in 2019 while Vettel has earned 22 points as a result of his fourth and fifth place finishes in these two races.

This four-point margin from Leclerc down to Vettel exists largely due to the fact that Vettel cost himself a top two finish and perhaps even a victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix by spinning out with 20 of the race’s 57 laps remaining after he was passed for second place by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who went on to win the race ahead of Bottas in second after Leclerc was relegated to third with an engine issue.

Will team orders come into play between Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel in the 2019 Formula 1 season’s third race, the Chinese Grand Prix, this Sunday, April 14? This race is set to be broadcast live on ESPN2 from Shanghai International Circuit in Jiading, Shanghai, China beginning at 2:05 a.m. ET.