Hamilton says Ferrari must do something about Leclerc: Otherwise this will keep happening

Ferrari’s management had long taken a hands-off approach to battles between its drivers, even though Hamilton had been warning for months that the Scuderia was costing itself better results by being reluctant to lay down strict rules. The Mexican Grand Prix, however, could prove to be the final straw. Hamilton has once again warned that nothing will change within the team unless its management intervenes.

Ferrari made a strong start, with Hamilton and Leclerc leading the way into the first corner. The opening 800 metres could not have gone better, but there can be too much of a good thing. Through the following corners, the Scuderia took itself out of contention for victory. Hamilton dropped to third behind eventual winner Max Verstappen, while Charles Leclerc received a penalty for cutting the track.

“Unfortunately, the race was lost in the first two corners, and it’s a shame because they could have easily finished first and second in this race if we worked together as a team,” said Lewis Hamilton, assessing Sunday’s performance.

In recent months, there have been several occasions when Ferrari’s drivers have done nothing to help each other and have, in fact, got in each other’s way. That has happened even when they were on different strategies. Only now, however, has it had truly serious consequences.

“Again, something I mentioned in the past, but, you know, it’s all fair and well racing against your teammate as long as it’s not to the detriment of the team’s points and the team’s opportunity of getting the best result. You know, 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 team championship, and, you know, that’s a real shame,” Hamilton continued.

The team should have been celebrating a one-two finish after the race. Instead, it will once again face the criticism Vasseur has complained about all year, and not just from the Italian media. “It affects so many people back at the factory. Luckily, we still got points, so we can hold on to second in the constructors. But, you know, it impacts the people that put all the hard work in and Tifosi.”

At this point, we could remind Hamilton of some battles from his own past when a clash with his team-mate cost his team points. The 2016 Spanish Grand Prix and Verstappen’s first victory are just one example.

Hamilton acknowledges that such mistakes can happen occasionally, but there have been too many of them at Ferrari. “You know, I think the core thing to remember, which maybe that comes with age, but every decision you make in the car impacts all the people that work in the background for the whole team. So working as a team, there is a part of our job and a part of our contract is we have to work as a team, which we could have easily done today. And so it’s a shame to see us lose as we did.”

“And that would just, it will continue unless action is taken and if conversation, a real deep, serious conversation is had,” he said of Leclerc’s approach. “So it shouldn’t happen moving forwards.”

“Of course, I’ve had close battles with teammates in the past, and you can’t always get it right, but nine times out of ten, we should be able to. And so I think we’ll take it offline and we’ll have some good convos, hopefully. For sure it won’t be easy, but, you know, must be done,” he said, anticipating difficult discussions.