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WATCH: Disaster for Ferrari as Vettel and Leclerc retire early after first-lap crash
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It was a moment to make Mattia Binotto wince. As if seeing his team’s two Ferraris line up 10th and 14th for the Styrian Grand Prix wasn’t bad enough, he then had to watch on in horror as Charles Leclerc clattered into Sebastian Vettel on the opening lap and caused race-ending damage for both.
Just three races on from their controversial contact in Brazil, Leclerc and Vettel were drawn to each other again at Turn 3 at the Red Bull Ring, with Leclerc – looking to make up ground after being dropped even further down the order following a three-place grid drop - trying a lunge up the inside of his team mate as the tightly bunched packed rounded the right-hander.
The Monegasque got alongside, but with space at a premium then slid into the side of Vettel’s car mid-apex, ripping off the German’s rear wing. Vettel retired at the end of the lap, while Leclerc took on a new front wing before parking up three laps later with severe damage to his floor.
READ MORE: ‘I let the team down’, says Leclerc as he accepts blame for first-lap clash with Vettel
The double retirement means Ferrari have scored just 19 points from the first two races, compared to 48 at the same point last year.
You can watch the incident yourself in the video player above.
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