Hamilton on Leclerc’s mentality: Either I win or neither of us does

The Mexican Grand Prix may have marked a major turning point in the relationship between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, and perhaps also in Ferrari’s approach to managing its drivers. On Sunday, the Monegasque once again fought his team-mate as though the fate of the world depended on it. The result appears to have been a lost victory for Ferrari.

Hamilton decided to speak out after the race. He was neither aggressive nor critical. Instead, true to his usual style, he tried to remain highly diplomatic and politically correct. But he took advantage of the fact that he held the moral high ground after the race. It was Leclerc who had (once again) got it wrong on Sunday, and Hamilton decided to address the subject at length in his interviews.

Asked whether Leclerc’s decisions on track might be negatively affected by the fact that he is not used to fighting his team-mate for victories, Hamilton offered an extensive psychological assessment of the Monegasque.

“I mean, before I joined this team, when I was at Mercedes, I watched and witnessed the back and forth between Charles and Carlos several races, where they were battling so much that the person ahead just pulled away, and they had the pace to actually win,” Hamilton said after Sunday’s race.

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

“The guy is 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. Either I win or none of us do,” “It shouldn’t be like that. It should be us having, getting that one-two,” Hamilton said.

It is clear that Leclerc can take things too far when fighting his team-mates. Surprisingly, though, that does not lead to collisions. There was also intense rivalry within Ferrari when Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Vettel drove for the team. Yet Charles has had just one major collision with a team-mate – in Brazil in 2019.

But the desire to beat the man on the other side of the garage proved hugely costly for both Leclerc and Ferrari in Mexico. “You know, Silverstone, I could have gone all kamikaze on him and taken him off and lost us the win, but instead the one-two was there. I think we got the one-two. Was it one-three, first and third, one-two? Whatever,” Hamilton recalled.

“For me, I’m happy for the team to have experienced that, but I’m hopeful we’ll work towards a better place, a better working place, in the future,” the seven-time champion added hopefully.