New Angle of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc Incident Proves Who Was at Fault

New footage of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc's clash in the opening lap of the Mexico Grand Prix has revealed who really caused the incident.

McLaren driver Lando Norris produced a dominant performance to claim victory in the Mexico Grand Prix on Sunday, knocking teammate Oscar Piastri off the top spot of the Drivers' Championship table in the process.

The Brit's impressive lap time in Saturday's qualifying combined with his strong start in the race allowed him to completely dodge the dramatic start to the race that saw several drivers come off the track.

Of all the drivers impacted by the early race chaos, Ferrari star Hamilton was probably impacted the most, as the seven-time world champion was handed a 10 second penalty off the back of incidents with both teammate Leclerc and former rival Max Verstappen.

And now, new footage of Hamilton's first incident with Leclerc has revealed who really was to blame for the Ferrari pair's controversial clash.

With the two Ferrari drivers starting the race in second and third, it seemed almost inevitable that the pair would be racing each other as soon as lights went out for the Mexico Grand Prix.

And that is exactly what happened, as Hamilton was alongside his teammate going into turn one, with Leclerc taking evasive action off the circuit before coming back out ahead of Hamilton.

Given the fact Leclerc had left the track and benefitted from it, some expected he would receive a penalty for the move, but this wasn't the case as the Monegasque escaped without punishment for the action, and Ferrari did not tell him to give the place up to Hamilton.

Understandably, Hamilton was clearly agitated by the decision, as he repeatedly complained to race engineer Riccardo Adami, later saying that he felt that he had been unfairly treated both by his team and the FIA, Formula One's governing body.

After seeing onboard footage from former Mercedes' teammate George Russell, the Brit will be even more annoyed as it is clear that Leclerc was completely at fault for the lap one incident with Hamilton.

Leclerc's explanation for why he left the track and therefore avoided losing a place to his teammate was that it was the only way to avoid a collision that could have ended the race of several drivers.

However, Russell's onboard footage shows that Leclerc had in fact made the corner and was likely far enough away from other cars that he would not have hit anyone as he turned.

With that in mind, it's almost undeniable that Leclerc should have received some sort of penalty for the move, something that could ultimately have led to Hamilton getting his first podium finish this year.

And things only got worse for Hamilton as, somewhat ironically, he himself was handed a harsh 10 second penalty for his incident with Verstappen, with the FIA stating he had left the track and gained an advantage.

Speaking about his penalty post-race, Hamilton admitted: "I am very disappointed with the FIA. He [Verstappen] also went off the track and there was no penalty.

"It was just the cutting. Then I’m the only one to get a 10-second penalty. It was kind of nuts.

"Ultimately I feel very let down by the governing body. It’s double standards as you can tell and it is what it is."