Lewis Hamilton says the Ferrari Formula 1 team needs some serious talks behind the scenes after an opening-lap incident with Charles Leclerc that he believes cost his team a Mexican Grand Prix win, as The Race reports.
Having started from pole position, Hamilton kept his lead at the start through the opening sequence of corners despite an initial challenge from his team-mate, who had climbed to second. But a fresh attack arrived on the run to Turn 4. As Leclerc attempted to go around the outside, both drivers outbraked themselves. Leclerc ended up cutting across the grass and rejoining after Turn 5 having taken the lead, while Hamilton ran wide at the Turn 4 exit and lost momentum, allowing Max Verstappen to slip past shortly afterward.
I don't know if he was very unhappy with what I did, because I felt like it was very much on the limit, also, what he did.
That moment proved decisive. The five-second penalty Leclerc picked up dropped him behind Verstappen at their first pitstops. Through the rest of the race—which featured both a red flag and a safety car restart—Hamilton could not find a way past Verstappen, coming home second on a day he felt Ferrari had the pace to win. Hamilton repeatedly voiced his annoyance during the race about Leclerc receiving only a five-second penalty, and after finishing second behind Verstappen, he insisted the situation required internal discussion.
"A tough, tough day," he said. "I think we had the pace to win today, but it wasn't meant to be. And you know, we'll take it offline and figure out what we can do in the background." Hamilton pointed out that drivers had agreed in the briefing that cutting the grass at the opening complex of corners meant giving positions back, while also questioning why Leclerc's penalty was so lenient. "Obviously, last year I got a 10-second penalty for that same move that he did," he said. "But ultimately, it was that that lost us the win today, and I think we have to have some serious talks behind the scenes for sure."
Leclerc disagreed that the matter was particularly serious, noting there was no contact and that both drivers simply made a mistake while fighting for the win. "We will talk about it, obviously," he said. "I don't know if he was very unhappy with what I did, because I felt like it was very much on the limit, also, what he did."
Leclerc added that there were no team orders restricting their battle for the lead and saw nothing unusual in how they approached the corner. He also explained that he briefly consulted the team about returning the position after cutting the grass, but the presence of Verstappen between them complicated the call before he ultimately kept going.
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