OMNISPORT

Ferrari stars Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel have cleared the air after their crash in Brazil and know a repeat will not be tolerated, according to team principal Mattia Binotto.

The team-mates have been engaged in a season-long battle to be Ferrari's lead driver and it came to a head at Interlagos, where the two collided on lap 66 to bring a conclusion to the race for both drivers.

With the final grand prix of the season in Abu Dhabi to come this weekend, Binotto confirmed talks had been held to address the incident, which he described as "not acceptable".

"Yes, we did it [held talks] – we did it the Sunday after the race, but we did it as well in the following days, during the week," Binotto said in a Q&A posted on the Scuderia's social media feeds. 

"We discussed together, all three together, individually, and I think that they understand what happened was not acceptable and we know how to move forward.

"The truth is they have fun together, as they enjoy a good and harmonious relationship, which is maybe quite different to what you might read or think.

"You could think that they are in conflict on the track, but that is not the case.

"For example, I remember that after the controversy in Russia, the three of us were together in a restaurant in Japan, having fun.

"They even grabbed each other's phones to see what photos they had on them.

"It's always fun and it's nice that they enjoy each other's company."

Leclerc has 249 points to Vettel's 230 this season, but the German is 10 years his senior and has four world titles for his name.