Lewis Hamilton said Ferrari need to have "serious talks" about how they go racing as he lamented a lost victory in the Mexico City Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion qualified on pole for the first time since joining the Scuderia, but his bid to convert that into a second win of the season fell apart on lap one.
Lap One Incident Decides the Race
Team-mate Charles Leclerc enjoyed a strong launch off the line from third and was fighting Hamilton for the lead into turn one. They kept things clean there, but at the second chicane Leclerc went off track and onto the grass and came back onto the road in the lead. Instead of giving the place back, he kept hold of it and was later given a five-second time penalty.
Leclerc lost the lead to Max Verstappen when he served that penalty in the pit lane and the Dutchman went on to win the race from there. Hamilton got back ahead of his team-mate at the restart after a red flag, but couldn't wrestle the lead back off the Red Bull.
Hamilton's Criticism and Call for Change
Hamilton said after the race: "In the drivers' briefing we discussed that, as soon as you go off at turn one, you have to give the position back. Last year, I got a 10-second penalty for that same move that he did. Ultimately, it was that which lost us the win today. We have to have some serious talks behind the scenes, for sure."
He had already made it clear over the radio that he was unhappy with the situation. He complained about the leniency of Leclerc's penalty several times, pointing out that the Monegasque was benefitting from clean air at the front while he was stuck behind Verstappen. During the red flag, he said over the radio that Ferrari have "big, big problems".
His criticism of Leclerc's driving continued in both the TV media pen and also the press conference after the race. To Sky Sports he said: "It's all fine 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 best result.
"At the end of the day, the team has to come first and, today, we lost a win for the team and today we lost points. I lost second in the drivers' championship. That's a real shame, and it affects so many people, it impacts all the people who put so much hard work in. So it wasn't good."
Leclerc Defends His Decision
And in the press conference he added: "The core thing to remember, and maybe it comes with age, but every decision you make in the car impacts all the people that work in the background, the whole team. Part of our job and our contract is we have to work as a team, which we could have easily done today.
"It's a shame to see us lose as we did. It will continue unless action is taken and a real conversation is had so that it doesn't happen going forward. I've had close battles with team-mates in the past, and you can't always get it right, but nine times out of 10 you should be able to."
Leclerc defended his decision to go for the lead, having felt there was enough of an opportunity to try to get past his team-mate. And he explained that, after he had gone off the road, his instinct was to give the place back to Hamilton – but he changed his mind when he saw that his team-mate had already lost second place to Verstappen. He said: "Turn one and two, there was a gap and when you're fighting for a win, I will always go for it. Turn four and five, I braked as late as I possibly could and I guess Lewis did the same. We both didn't make the corner.
"Then, in my head, it was about giving the position back. But then Lewis got overtaken by Max and I thought it was worth it to try and see what happened, because it was a very confusing situation. I tried to ask on the radio, but I just kept my position.
"I'm sure Lewis definitely hated those first few laps. We'll discuss it."
