Ferrari boss releases furious statement on Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc conduct at Mexican GP
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has furiously spoken out after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc clashed at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Kimi Antonelli’s third-place finish was enough to secure him the 2026 championship and make him the youngest champion of all time, with four races to go.
Elsewhere, Hamilton and Leclerc became embroiled in a tussle at Turn 4, with Leclerc passing his teammate off track in a battle for the lead. The incident resulted in the Monegasque receiving a five-second time penalty before finishing fourth.
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Hamilton was visibly annoyed and could be heard saying over team radio during the race: “Got pushed out by my own teammate.”
Instead of giving the position back to Hamilton, Leclerc decided to keep going in a push for the lead.
Speaking after the race, the seven-time world champion claimed Leclerc’s actions had cost the team victory in Mexico City.
“The penalty was deserved in a way,” Leclerc admitted after the race.
“The thing is that it was a bit confusing because we both didn’t make Turn 4. Then I stayed ahead, and then Max got past Lewis. So yeah, then I asked what should I do? And I kept the position and took a deserved penalty.”
Hamilton later accused Leclerc of “working against” him before urging Ferrari to take action.
Ferrari boss Vasseur has since spoken out, accusing both drivers of showing a “lack of respect” for the team after the race.
“I’m struggling to swallow it because, honestly, I think it’s a lack of respect, a lack of respect for the brand, a lack of respect for all the people working here and for the efforts we’re putting in," he said.
“We’ve taken a real step forward in terms of performance, and I think throwing away a win like that is tough.”
He was then asked whether his frustrations were directed at Leclerc rather than Hamilton.
“No, no, I didn’t target anyone; I want to talk with them,” Vasseur added.
“Lewis was running very wide too, but look, I think we also need to keep in mind that we represent a brand, we represent sponsors, we’ve got 2,000 people working behind us who aren’t just racing for the sake of racing; they’re racing for the whole team.”
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Every word Lewis Hamilton said about Charles Leclerc after Mexican GP clash
“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.
“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 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 for the team to have experienced that. But I’m hopeful we’ll work towards a better working place in the future.”
“In the race, I gave it everything," he added.
“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.”
When asked if there had been any discussions about how they would approach the opening lap, 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.”
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Formula 1 standings after Mexican GP
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) — 380 points
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) — 261 points
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) — 259 points
- George Russell (Mercedes) — 250 points
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) — 245 points
- Lando Norris (McLaren) — 221 points
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) — 144 points
- Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) — 107 points
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) — 83 points
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine) — 42 points
- Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) — 38 points
- Franco Colapinto (Alpine) — 27 points
- Oliver Bearman (Haas) — 23 points
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) — 14 points
- Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) — 13 points
- Esteban Ocon (Haas) — 7 points
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) — 7 points
- Carlos Sainz Jnr (Williams) — 7 points
- Alexander Albon (Williams) — 5 points
- Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) — 1 point
- Ryo Hirakawa (Haas) — 1 point
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) — 0 points
- Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) — 0 points
- Sergio Perez (Cadillac) — 0 points
Topics: Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Luke Davies