As The Race reports, the opening-lap run-in between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at the Mexican Grand Prix was not the first time Ferrari Formula 1 team principal Fred Vasseur has had to deal with fallout between his drivers this year. But unlike Zandvoort and Monza, this one crossed a line that had not been transgressed before.
With two cars at the front of the field on the opening lap at a track where overtaking is super difficult, Ferrari had everything in its power to achieve its best result of the season. Instead, its drivers blew it and gifted Max Verstappen and Red Bull the victory. Vasseur lamented afterwards that being 1-2 at Turn 4 meant you never imagine you won't win the race, especially given the rarity of overtaking in Mexico.
For Vasseur, his frustration was not about who was in the right or wrong with their positioning through the first corners, which ultimately ended up with Leclerc cutting across the track between Turns 4 and 5 and Hamilton running wide. Instead, the issue ran much deeper. The self interest of the drivers to battle each other so hard for the win ended up wasting the efforts of everyone at Maranello who had worked to lift the competitiveness of the car over recent races to get it to the front in the first place.
As Vasseur told Canal+ after the chequered flag, it became a question of respect. He admitted he was having trouble swallowing it, calling it a lack of respect for all the people who work and stating that wasting a victory is hard and stuck in his throat. In Ferrari's post-race press release, he reiterated that he always expects everyone to show respect for the brand, the team, partners, and above all, the 2000 people working back home.
The emphasis of being a team player was something echoed by Hamilton himself. The seven-time champion reckoned that he and Leclerc had not worked together as well as they should have done. Hamilton noted that every decision you make in the car impacts all the people that work in the background for the whole team, and that part of their contract is working as a team, which they could have easily done.
While Vasseur needs some time to digest what happened, he knows a repeat cannot be allowed and plans a sit down with his drivers to clear the situation ahead of action resuming in Brazil next weekend. Vasseur noted that the advantage is having another race in four days, allowing them to discuss tonight, fix it tomorrow, and then race. Meanwhile, Leclerc suggested he did not see the need for any major conversation, while Hamilton was unsure of an ideal outcome and questioned Leclerc's mentality, pointing out that the driver is 28 years old and that the approach should be about the team getting that 1-2 rather than a do-or-die mentality.
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