Vettel: I don't think it was a strong team order

Granted, releasing Leclerc would have had little effect on the team's position as Max Verstappen in third was way up the road in his Red Bull. They would have still finished a disappointing fourth and fifth.

When Leclerc asked what to do when he came upon Vettel's slower car, he was told to hold station and accordingly obliged. After the race pundits questioned the need to employ team orders at the opening race.

This in the light of new team chief Mattia Binotto insisting before the season began that his two drivers were allowed to race and there would be no hierarchy.

When the German was quizzed about the decision during a media briefing, he responded, "Well I think from the team's point of view it was quite clear that fourth and fifth was the best result we could get."

"Obviously you never see completely what's going on at that point in the race, both of us had to manage quite a lot to make it to the chequered flag. We still had some fuel to save, so it's not the first time... and obviously, it depends if you have anybody in front or behind, but it's not the first time that people have asked to freeze the race there and make sure you bring home the points."

"You can understand that, but I don't think this it was a strong team order. I can see for people there's quite a lot of excitement in this kind of thing, maybe there's a story, but internally it was pretty straightforward."

"If you want to win you always have to justify it, you always have to prove that ultimately you can go faster than the others. It's part of competition, it's part of all of our lives that we grew up with. I think everyone, maybe some less or more, but every one of us has a huge ambition to go faster than the other guy."

As for his relationship with a driver ten years his junior, the 31-year-old said, "We're still very fresh so it's not that much of a relationship yet. We are both working in the same direction and we're both keen to do the best we can on the track."

"We're both keen to make the car faster so up to now it's been pretty straightforward. He's a very young and talented kid so I'm sure he will leave his mark this year and in the next years to come."