Charles Leclerc says he will accept further team orders from Ferrari “in some situations” after being told to defer to his team mate in all of the first three races.

The Ferrari driver was told to stay behind Sebastian Vettel in both of the first two races – but passed his team mate anyway in the second – and was ordered to let Vettel past during the Chinese Grand Prix

Asked if he was prepared to accept more team orders in future race Leclerc said he would so, “depending on the situation.”

“Obviously there will always be team orders in Formula 1,” he explained. “It depends on the situation. In some situations I will.”

Following the Chinese Grand Prix Leclerc had discussions with team principal Mattia Binotto about Ferrari’s policy of favouring Vettel in certain scenarios. “I did ask him, then obviously I think the answer is still the same,” he said.

“He is taking a decision on the pit wall. At the end they have a lot more data on the pit wall than I do in the car. We’ll see in the future.”

Leclerc said he understands the team’s reasons for backing his team mate in the championship.

“It’s frustrating when you are in the car when you are told to let past another driver. Obviously it is frustrating for anyone that has been driving a car that is given this instruction.

“On the other hand on my I understand them in a way. Obviously Seb is now in his fifth year with the team, has won four world championships and I’m only coming in my second season in Formula 1. So I’ve got a lot of things to prove and now it’s just up to me to do the best job possible in the car to prove [to] the team what I’m capable of.

“I think I just need to continue doing what I’m doing, trying to improve myself and hopefully it will change soon.”

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2019 F1 season