‘It’s a mentality thing’ – Hamilton hits out at Leclerc after Mexico clash

Lewis Hamilton criticised Charles Leclerc over the lap-one incident that cost Ferrari likely victory in the Mexico City Grand Prix, suggesting his team-mate’s driving came down to “a mentality thing”.

Hamilton and Leclerc battled for the lead during the first four corners of Sunday’s race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in a duel that saw the latter cut across the second chicane to take over first place from the pole-sitting Briton.

Having also run slightly wide himself in defence of the position, Hamilton was overtaken on the exit of Turn Five by Max Verstappen.

That proved significant as when Leclerc was handed a five-second penalty by stewards for running off track and gaining an advantage in the Turn Four incident, Verstappen took over the lead of the race when the lead Ferrari served the sanction at his pit stop.

Verstappen went on to win, with Hamilton eventually finishing second after passing Leclerc at the second race start following a red-flag period for Valtteri Bottas’ high-speed crash.

A frustrated Hamilton, who had expressed unhappiness over the radio on several occasions with the fact Leclerc had only been handed a five-second sanction by stewards, said after the team’s eventual two-four finish that they required “serious talks behind the scenes” in a season that has contained other flashpoints between the team-mates.

Speaking in the post-race press conference, Hamilton was asked about Leclerc and whether a different approach was required against a team-mate when it came to fighting for race wins.

“Before I joined this team, when I was in Mercedes, I watched and witnessed the back and forth between Charles and Carlos [Sainz] for several races where they were battling so much that the person ahead just pulled away, and they had the pace to actually win the race,” said Hamilton, who is in his second season at Ferrari alongside Leclerc.

“But it’s one thing when that’s happening for fourth and fifth, as opposed to first and second, and you lose the win. That’s significant.

“The guy’s 28 years old, so I don’t think it’s an age thing. I think it’s a mentality thing. It’s like ‘do or die. Like either I win or none of us do’, and it shouldn’t be that.

“It should be us having getting that one-two because it’s still a good feeling.

“Silverstone, I could have gone all kamikaze on him and taken him off and lost us the win but instead it was first and third.

“For me, I’m happy to for the team to have experienced that. But I’m hopeful we’ll work towards a better working place in the future.”

‘Today we lost the win for the team’

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Hamilton said Ferrari’s wider interests on the first lap had not been put first.

“In the race, I gave it everything,” he said after finishing within one second of Verstappen.

“Unfortunately the race was lost in the first few corners and it’s a shame because we could have easily finished first and second in this race if we worked together as a team.”

Asked if there had been any pre-race discussions about how they would approach the opening lap, which features the longest run of the season to the first corner, from first and third on the grid, Hamilton said: “We didn’t sit down and talk before.

“Again, it’s something I mentioned in the past, but it’s all fair and well racing against your team-mate as long as it’s not to the detriment of the team’s points and the team’s opportunity of getting the result.

“At the end of the day the team has to come first and today we lost the win for the team, today we lost points, I lost second in the championship and that’s a real shame.

“It affects so many people back at the factory. Luckily, we still got points so we can hold onto second in the constructors’ but it impacts the people that put in all the hard work, and the Tifosi. So it wasn’t good.”

Hamilton added: “It definitely needs some discussions for sure but we’ll take it offline and figure out what we can do.”

What did Leclerc say about the first lap battle?

Leclerc, who eventually finished fourth, defended his approach to the opening corners of the race, although suggested his first thought after running off track at Turn Four had been to give Hamilton the lead back.

By then, however, Verstappen was between them on the road.

Leclerc told Sky Sports F1: “Turns One, Two there was a gap and when you’re fighting for a win, I will always go for it.

“Turns Four, Five I broke as late as I possibly could and I guess Lewis did the same and we didn’t both make the corner.

“Then in my head it was about giving the position back but then Lewis got overtaken by Max and I thought it was worth it to kind of try and see what happened because it was a very confusing situation.

“I asked on the radio but I kept my position.”

Asked about what will happen next, Leclerc added: “I’m sure Lewis definitely hated those first few laps and we’ll discuss.”

‘Today it cost them the win’ – Verstappen cashes in on Ferrari squabble

After claiming his third win in four races to move ahead of Hamilton and Mercedes’ George Russell to second in the Drivers’ Championship, Verstappen offered his assessment of what had unfolded ahead of him on the opening lap.

“I think today we also capitalised on Ferrari’s battles with each other,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.

“They are two No 1 drivers so they always go for it, but I think today it cost them the win.”

Formula 1 next heads to Brazil for the final leg of the triple header with the Sao Paulo Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime

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