Lewis Hamilton has criticised Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc's aggressive racing against him at the Mexico City Grand Prix, saying the Monegasque driver "worked against" him during their opening-lap battle. The seven-time world champion said he was "really p*****" after the incident, which he believes cost the team a likely one-two finish.
The two Ferraris fought hard in the opening corners at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Their scrap ended with both cars leaving the track at turn four after Leclerc's late braking move around the outside, allowing Max Verstappen the chance to take the race win.
Opening-lap clash costs Ferrari
Verstappen passed Hamilton at the exit of turn five and later took the net race lead when Leclerc was handed a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Hamilton was angry about both the move and the penalty, which he felt was lenient given it allowed Leclerc to race in clean air at the highest track on the F1 calendar.
During a red-flag period caused by Valtteri Bottas' crash, Hamilton said over the team radio: "We've got big problems. Big, big problems."
Hamilton: 'Your teammate works against you'
Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, Hamilton said: "I don't know what needs to happen now. How we discuss things when we go back – I'm not quite sure how I want to engage in that force of frustrations of today.
"I'm happy because this guy [Antonelli] just won the championship, so I'm really torn because, on one side, I'm happy and, on the other side, I'm really p*****. We lost valuable points. We, as a team, worked so hard. We could have easily had a one-two today. We had the pace to do.
"So we're going into Turn 4, first and second. If we just held position, I think anything can happen in the race, but when your teammate works against you, and then you lose positions like that, it's definitely tough."
Hamilton added that there are no "rules of engagement" at Ferrari and that "something needs to change, for sure." He said the team would discuss the matter offline.
Hamilton compares battles with past team-mates
Asked whether battling Leclerc differs from his previous head-to-heads with George Russell and Nico Rosberg at Mercedes, Hamilton said: "Not much different, I would say, from any of the others that I've been alongside. I think the core thing to remember, which maybe comes with age, is that every decision you make in the car impacts all the people that work in the background, the whole team.
"So working as a team is a part of our job and a part of our contract: we have to work as a team, which we could have easily done today."
Hamilton also referenced Leclerc's past battles with former Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, noting that he chose not to attempt a "kamikaze" move on Leclerc at Silverstone earlier this season. He said: "Silverstone, I could have gone all kamikaze on him and taken him off and lost us the win but instead it was first and third."
Leclerc defends his actions
Leclerc defended his driving, saying: "Turns One, Two there was a gap and when you're fighting for a win, I will always go for it. Turns Four, Five I broke as late as I possibly could and I guess Lewis did the same and we didn't both 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 kind of try and see what happened because it was a very confusing situation. I asked on the radio but I kept my position."
On what happens next at Ferrari, Leclerc said: "I'm sure Lewis definitely hated those first few laps and we'll discuss."
Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli secured the World Drivers' Championship with four races to go, finishing third on the podium, one spot behind Hamilton and one ahead of Leclerc.
