"Do something, please!" The radio transmissions that demonstrate how Leclerc lost at Silverstone

Charles Leclerc was on track to claim a much-needed victory at the British Grand Prix until the final laps, when everything went wrong for him.

It was highly criticized that his team did not pit him during the Safety Car period at the end of the race. However, Leclerc's remarks indicate that he was more concerned with another part of the team's race management.

After the checkered flag had dropped, Leclerc lamented the amount of time he had lost to his teammate earlier in the race. This rendered him more susceptible than he would have otherwise been when the Safety Car appeared.

Leclerc started the race in third position, behind pole-sitter Carlos Sainz Jr. and Max Verstappen. They ran in this order initially, until Sainz crashed and handed the lead to Verstappen.

Leclerc warned his crew as early as the 11th lap that he was losing time to Sainz. Twenty laps later, Ferrari altered their running order. Eight laps later, though, the Safety Car was deployed.

Ferrari chose not to bring in Leclerc, who was leading by just three seconds, despite the fact that he was only three seconds ahead. At the restart, he was vulnerable to those who pitted, including Sainz.

Ferrari attempted to organize the restart by instructing Sainz to fall behind his teammate. However, he disregarded the instruction and passed his teammate after a few bends. Despondent, Leclerc dropped to fourth place, scoring fewer than half of the points he had been on track for a few minutes earlier.

Here is how Leclerc and Sainz described the race on their radios.

Leclerc and Sainz transmitted radio communications during the British Grand Prix.

Leclerc sustained damage at the start of the race, but it did not hinder his performance.

At the Chapel turn on the tenth circuit, Sainz lost control and handed the lead to Verstappen. Sainz instructed his team to be patient as Leclerc moved up from behind, but the Ferrari driver was already cautioning his team not to allow one vehicle to cost the other time.

Leclerc became increasingly concerned about the time he was losing behind Sainz, warning the team: “I’m fucking up my race.”

At this moment, both Ferrari drivers were becoming extremely frustrated. Leclerc was imploring with the team to "do something," whilst Sainz informed his race engineer that he had heard enough messages to raise his pace:

Leclerc first protested that he was falling behind teammate Sainz eight laps before Ferrari finally hauled Sainz in. But had he been? Sainz believed that Leclerc's lap timings demonstrated that it was more difficult for him to achieve the goal lap time without using his teammate's DRS.

Leclerc entered the race after stretching his first stint longer than Sainz had, giving him a tyre performance advantage that made it simpler for him to exert pressure on his teammate:

While Leclerc was focused on defeating Verstappen, Ferrari was focused on maintaining its lead over Hamilton.

Once more, Leclerc found himself falling behind Sainz. Now Ferrari has given Sainz a target lap time and informed him that if he does not meet it, he would have to let his teammate by.

Sainz believed his lap times were improving, but Ferrari disagreed, and Leclerc remained within DRS range. Two were instructed to switch positions:

Now that Leclerc was finally sprinting in open air, he started to pull away from Sainz. Mercedes stated after the race that, had the Safety Car not intervened, Hamilton would have been able to pass Sainz, but not Leclerc, who was faster.

Just as Leclerc appeared to be on track for victory, the one undesirable occurrence occurred. Due to Esteban Ocon's stop on the old start-finish straight, the Safety Car was deployed.

Ferrari had little time to make a decision. As Leclerc's hard tyres were fresher than Sainz's, they swiftly determined that the wisest course of action would be to leave him in the lead but bring the following car in for new rubber. Following Sainz's example were Hamilton, Perez, and Fernando Alonso.

Leclerc soon realized he was in a precarious circumstance:

Ferrari instructed Sainz to give Leclerc 10 car lengths of room at the restart to shield him from an immediate attack. This message was broadcast together with Sainz's denial, which Ferrari did not override.

Although Ferrari informed Leclerc of the direction given to Sainz, they did not inform him that his teammate had disobeyed it.

At the restart, Sainz swiftly pounced on Leclerc and passed him. Perez and Hamilton both appear to have passed Alonso, but he was able to retain him behind the flag for fourth position.

If Ferrari had taken measures early in the race to prevent Leclerc from losing time to Sainz, would he have amassed a sufficient lead to be safe when the Safety Car was deployed?

Clearly, Leclerc was pondering the topic at the conclusion of the race. Even Sainz could see that his teammate was unfairly treated given the circumstances.