“Do something, please!” The radio calls which show how Leclerc lost at Silverstone · RaceFans

Charles Leclerc was on course to claim a badly-needed victory in the British Grand Prix until it all went wrong for him in the final laps.

The team’s decision not to pit him during the Safety Car period at the end of the race was widely criticised. But as Leclerc’s comment show he was more concerned about another aspect of the team’s race management.

After the chequered flag had fallen, Leclerc commented in despair on the amount of time he’d lost behind his team mate earlier in the race. That left him more vulnerable than he might have been when the Safety Car came out.

Leclerc began the race third on the grid behind pole-winner Carlos Sainz Jnr and Max Verstappen. They ran in that order to begin with, until Sainz went off, handing the lead to Verstappen.

As early as lap 11 Leclerc was warning his team that he was losing time behind Sainz. Ferrari eventually swapped their running order 20 laps later. But just eight laps after that the Safety Car was deployed.

Ferrari opted not to bring in Leclerc, who was leading by just three seconds. That left him vulnerable to those who did pit, including Sainz, at the restart.

Ferrari tried to orchestrate the restart, telling Sainz to drop back from his team mate. But he refused to follow the instruction, and swept by his team mate after a few corners. A despondent Leclerc sunk to fourth place, scoring less than half the points he had been on course for a few minutes earlier.

Here’s how the race unfolded on Leclerc and Sainz’s radios.

Leclerc and Sainz radio messages during the British Grand Prix

Leclerc picked up damage at the start of the race but sound found it wasn’t limiting his performance:

On lap 10 Sainz went off the track at Chapel, which handed the…