Brundle says Ferrari's team orders are "humiliating and frustrating" for Leclerc

Martin Brundle has criticised Ferrari's team orders during the Chinese Grand Prix and has said that they could potentially be damaging to their young driver. Ferrari sees Sebastian Vettel as their number one driver despite Charles Leclerc's obvious speed. During the race, Leclerc was ordered to let Vettel past which has caused much controversy. 

"A general perception was that Vettel and his set up was the faster Ferrari in Shanghai, and so when he ended up in the slipstream of Leclerc in the sister car, with the Mercedes pulling away up front, the team had to do something about it," said Brundle in his post-race Sky Sports column.

"They ordered Leclerc to let him through which of course is humiliating and frustrating for the young Monegasque, and especially galling after car reliability robbed him of a glorious victory two weeks earlier.

"They mustn't harm his credibility and paint him as a support act, that's damaging psychologically and reputation wise, and isn't easy to reverse."

"Ferrari has been remarkably open and frank about how they will handle team orders this season, with a bias towards the more experienced Vettel if required," added Brundle.

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"This was presumably to avoid some of the mistakes and dramas in recent years which created significant criticism and pressure.

"But it won't diffuse or solve the problem because Leclerc is every bit the match for Vettel and he's his own man despite his tender years."

Leclerc has handled the situation well and will hope that if he continues to show his pace then Ferrari will view him as number 1.