Lewis Hamilton demands “serious talks” at Ferrari after Charles Leclerc clash at Mexico GP
Lewis Hamilton wants to have "serious talks" with Ferrari about his clash with team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Lewis Hamilton says “serious talks” are needed at Ferrari following his clash with Formula 1 team-mate Charles Leclerc at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
The Ferrari drivers were involved in a controversial early flashpoint of Sunday’s race when they went wheel-to-wheel for the lead through the first sequence of corners. Hamilton initially held the lead at Turn 1, but Leclerc swept around the outside at Turn 4, only completing the move by running off track.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton lost out to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the melee and dropped to third, before complaining to Ferrari over team radio.
Hamilton was left frustrated that Leclerc did not give back the position and was bemused by the stewards’ decision to only hand his team-mate a five-second time penalty, when he received a 10-second penalty for a similar incident at last year’s race.
The 41-year-old Briton ultimately overtook Leclerc at the standing restart following a mid-race red flag and finished second behind Verstappen.
“Tough day. I think we had the pace to win today, but it wasn’t meant to be, and we’ll take it offline and figure out what we can do in the background,” Hamilton said after the race..
“In the drivers’ briefing, we discussed as soon as you go off in Turn 1, you have to give the position back. Last year I got a 10-second penalty for that same move that he did.”
Speaking to former Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in parc ferme, Hamilton called for the incident to be reviewed internally behind closed doors.
“Ultimately, it was that that lost us the win today. I think we have to have some serious talks behind the scenes, for sure,” Hamilton added.
“But the good thing is the team are working really hard. We’ve really improved our car. It’s great to be here, and we were on the old engine this weekend as well.
“Good results, good points. Shame we didn’t get a win, but some you win, some you lose.”
Leclerc finished fourth after suffering a huge lock up into Turn 1 at the restart, having been overtaken by Hamilton.
Hamilton fumed at Ferrari over team radio during the race, stating the team has "big problems".
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