Sebastian Vettel Suggests Ferrari F1 is Playing Favorites with Charles Leclerc

From Autoweek

• Sebastian Vettel has scored just 18 points this season and is on pace to score his lowest point total since he became a full-time F1 driver in 2008.

• Charles Leclerc finished fourth and on the lead lap Sunday at Portugal, while Vettel finished 10th and a lap down.

• Vettel announced in September that he would be driving for rival Racing Point (rebranded as Aston Martin) in 2021.

Ferrari F1 team principal Mattia Binotto says that whatever problems Sebastian Vettel is having this year to produce results this year in Formula 1 and at least keep up with teammate Charles Leclerc, the car's not the problem.

Binotto says that the racing Ferraris driven by Leclerc and Vettel are, in fact, identical.

In Portugal, departing four-time world champion Vettel finished 10th and a lap down. Meanwhile, Leclerc finished fourth and on the lead leap in the sister car. Vettel is not so sure that the deck isn't being stacked against him within his own team.

"You can see in the telemetry that the other car is much faster in some sections, I'm not an idiot," German Vettel said after Sunday's Portuguese Grand Prix. "I don't know if I should say more but I've tried everything. There are the lap times and there are my feelings, but I have to think that we have the same car because I trust the people around me."

With five races left in the season, Leclerc is fifth in the drivers' standings with 75 points. Vettel, who is leaving Ferrari for Racing Point at season's end, is 13th with just 18 points.

Team boss Binotto moved quickly to dispel any doubts about unfair treatment.

"Seb and Charles' cars are identical, there is no doubt about that," Binotto told Sky Italia. "Charles is certainly very good, but maybe we can expect more from the second driver."

Binotto also said that are no plans to release Vettel early.

"It's not a discussion at all," Binotto said. "I'm also sure that he will get points again that will give him more self confidence. Here, I think Sebastian could have been faster in terms of his potential, but we can't put so much pressure on him now. We're doing everything we can to ensure that he can finish the season as well as possible."

The good news for Ferrari is that the updates introduced over the last trio of races appear to be working.

"We think the direction we are taking is the correct one," said Binotto. "We know which path to take so now we are pushing as much as possible for next year."

Does Vettel have a point? Is is possible that Ferrari is pouring its resources into Leclerc? Get in on the Ferrari discussion in the comments section.