Karun Chandhok loved Ferrari radio message to Charles Leclerc he heard during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has once again started a Grand Prix from pole position but failed to win the resulting race.

It’s becoming a running theme for the Monegasque driver and for the fourth successive Azerbaijan Grand Prix, he’s watched on as someone else stood on the top step of the podium after coming out on top during Saturday’s qualifying session.

On this occasion, Charles Leclerc was beaten by McLaren star Oscar Piastri.

Piastri pulled off a brilliant move to overtake Leclerc before defending expertly to cling to the second victory of his career.

Leclerc had a healthy lead going into what turned out to be the only pit-stop phase of the race for the front-running drivers.

However, Piastri quickly caught him on the hard tyres and his exceptional overtake eventually led to Leclerc’s tyres going off and the Monegasque driver having to hold off Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez behind him.

The pair eventually collided in the closing stages denying them a hefty chunk of points and seeing George Russell unexpectedly promoted onto the podium.

Ferrari tried everything they could to help Leclerc retake the lead and Karun Chandhok while commentating on the race for Sky Sports F1 particularly enjoyed one radio message from Leclerc’s race engineer Bryan Bozzi.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Bozzi and Leclerc’s relationship has been questioned before but the 26-year-old does appear to be building up a level of trust with Bozzi now.

McLaren had to keep a close eye on what their rivals were doing on the track and the pit wall but managed to not get caught out on this occasion.

Karun Chandhok enjoyed Ferrari’s ‘gamesmanship’ on the team radio in Baku

Heading into the closing stages of the race, Leclerc’s race engineer sent his driver a message that simply said: “Box opposite McLaren.”

Chandhok heard the message and excitedly said: “Oh, they’re calling him to box opposite McLaren, so if Oscar stays out, you pit, is this a dummy call?

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

“It is a dummy call! So, there’s a bit of gamesmanship going on because of course the teams all listen to each other’s radio messages and Ferrari trying to outfox McLaren.

“McLaren keeping cool and not reacting so far at least, but I like this, I like the gamesmanship happening outside the cockpit as well.”

Charles Leclerc admits ‘mistake’ in Azerbaijan Grand Prix that cost him victory

After winning an emotional race for Ferrari at Monza, Leclerc will feel he should have back-to-back victories for the second time in his F1 career.

He last achieved the feat in 2019 and the fact he could stay within the DRS zone of Piastri’s McLaren for so long suggests his Ferrari was fast enough to win the race.

However, Leclerc admitted he made a key mistake in his battle with Piastri that proved to be costly.

Clean air is so important in Formula 1 and even though Piastri couldn’t escape Leclerc, it allowed him to look after his tyres better than the Monegasque driver.

Once Leclerc lost the rear tyres, his chances of victories dissipated and he had to settle for sharing the podium with Piastri and Russell.

The signs for Ferrari in general are very good though and they’ll be confident they can overturn the deficit to Red Bull to finish ahead of them in the Constructors’ Championship even if McLaren may be slightly out of reach.