Lewis Hamilton points finger at Charles Leclerc for ‘do or die’ mentality

Lewis Hamilton has accused Ferrari Formula 1 team-mate Charles Leclerc of “working against” him and having a “do or die” mentality after their clash at the Mexico City Grand Prix. 

Tensions between Hamilton and Leclerc have boiled over following a fiery opening lap battle that saw Leclerc take the lead from his team-mate when he cut the chicane at Turn 4. 

Hamilton lost second place to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as a result and was left frustrated that Ferrari failed to intervene by asking Leclerc to hand the position back to him, while he also felt Leclerc’s five-second time penalty was lenient. 

After going on to finish second behind Verstappen, Hamilton demanded that Ferrari has some “serious talks behind closed doors” after feeling the in-fighting had cost the team a one-two. 

The seven-time world champion added that similar incidents will continue to happen between the Ferrari pair “unless action is taken”.

When asked what he feels Ferrari needs to do about it, Hamilton replied: “I don't know what needs to happen now. How we discuss things when we go back, I'm not not quite sure how I want to engage in that. 

“Of course, a frustration for today. I'm happy because this guy [Antonelli] has won the championship so I'm really torn, because on one side, I'm happy, on the other side, I'm really pissed. 

"We lost valuable points and as a team. We were going into Turn 4 first and second. If we just held position, I think anything thing can happen in the race, but when your teammate works against you, and then you lose positions like that, it's definitely tough. 

“We'll just talk about this offline. We don't have rules of engagement and whether or not that would change anything from Charles' side, I don't know. We've just got to figure [it] out. But something needs to change, for sure.” 

Hamilton said he witnessed similar traits from Leclerc when the 28-year-old was team-mates with Carlos Sainz, who Hamilton replaced in 2025. 

“Before I joined this team, when I was in 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 the race,” he claimed. 

“It’s one thing when that's happening in fourth and fifth as opposed to first and second, and you lose the win. That's significant. 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. Like, either I win, or none of us do, and it shouldn't be that. It should be, us having got that one-two, which is still a good feeling.

“At Silverstone, I could have gone all kamikaze on him and taken him off and lost us the the win, but instead a one-two was there, and I think we got a one-two, or was it a one-three? I'm happy for the team to have experienced that. I'm hopeful we'll work towards a better place in the future.” 

Hamilton insisted he had “way worse times” with former Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the past but stressed such intra-team fights were “managed well at Mercedes.” 

He argued he would “have some answering to do” if the situation had been the other way around in Mexico. 

“I think Fred [Vasseur, Ferrari team principal] is doing his best,” Hamilton said. “Fred came and spoke to me before the race. I think he was nervous. Of course, he wants his two drivers to do well.

"From my side, if I'm coming from behind and I'm taking all the risk, and it ends up we lose as a team, then I think I would have some answering to do, because it impacts a lot of people. But the other way around, I'm in the lead, and it was just unnecessary, I think. 

“I think we could have had that one-two today, which would have been huge for the team and for everyone back in the factory who has worked so hard. I don't really know what will be done, because up until now, nothing really has been done, so we'll see.”