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Last season, after three races Leclerc led the world championship by a comfortable margin on 71 points, having scored two victories.
This year, after round three he lies 10th with his only score a seventh place in Saudi Arabia, where he had to recover from a grid penalty.
He stopped with an engine issue in Bahrain, and in Australia, he retired after first-lap contact with Lance Stroll.
Vasseur insists that despite his understandable frustration, Leclerc is still fully behind the team.
“I have absolutely no doubt about the motivation of Charles,” he said. “For sure the start of the season is not ideal at all. We had the DNF in Bahrain and then the penalty in Jeddah, and the DNF in Melbourne.
“It was not the at all the plan. But the motivation is still there. You know that I have a good relationship with Charles. And this won’t affect the mood.
“But when you are jumping on Charles or Carlos or any other driver …