> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.the-race.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Where Ferrari drivers' Mexico clash crossed a new line - URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/where-ferrari-f1-drivers-mexico-clash-crossed-new-line/ - Published: 2026-11-02T09:43:18.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-02T09:50:27.000Z - Description: What happened between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in Mexico became a "lack of respect" for Ferrari - Author: Jon Noble - Tags: Formula 1, #ferrari, #charles-leclerc, #lewis-hamilton, #secondary_feature_1 The [Mexican Grand Prix first lap run-in](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/a-ferrari-1-2-thrown-away-our-verdict-on-latest-leclerc-hamilton-spat/) between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc is 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 for Vasseur 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: "We were 1-2 at Turn 4\. I don't remember the last overtaking in Mexico, perhaps at the end of the '70s. When you are 1-2 in Turn 4, you don't imagine that you won't win the race." For Vasseur, his frustration about losing the win 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 - in that 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. And on that matter, Vasseur said it became a question of respect. As he told Canal+ after the chequered flag: "I'm having trouble swallowing it. It's a lack of respect for all the people who work. Wasting a victory is hard. It's stuck in my throat. They're not racing for themselves." For Vasseur, who did not want to get involved in the specifics of the incident, this was one of those cases of drivers putting their own interests in front of those of the team. In Ferrari's post-race press release he said: "I always expect everyone to show respect for the brand, the team, our partners and, above all, the 2000 people working for us back home. "They put an incredible amount of effort into what we do, working day and night at the factory to improve the car and bring upgrades to the track. That's why missing out on a win in this way is difficult to accept." The emphasis of being a team player was something echoed by Hamilton himself - who reckoned that he and Leclerc had not worked together as well as they should have done. "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 for the whole team," Hamilton said after the race. "A part of our contract is we have to work as a team, which we could have easily done today. So it's a shame to see us lose as we did. "And that will continue unless action is taken, and a real [deep, serious conversation is had](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/hamilton-demands-serious-talks-after-latest-leclerc-incident/), so it shouldn't happen moving forward." ## Vasseur promises action While Vasseur said that he needed some time to "digest" what had happened on the first lap, he knows that a repeat cannot be allowed. That is why he thought what happened in Mexico warrants a sit down with his drivers to "clear the situation" ahead of action resuming in Brazil next weekend. Vasseur did not want to get drawn into his views on who he felt was more at fault until he had spoken to both Hamilton and Leclerc. But he felt that there only being a few days to go before attention shifted to the Interlagos race was a benefit in terms of there not being a gap where things could fester. "The advantage is that we have another one in four days," said Vasseur. "We'll discuss tonight, we'll fix it tomorrow, and then we'll do this one." Leclerc suggested post-race that he did not see the need for any major conversation over what happened, while Hamilton said he was unsure of an ideal outcome. Hamilton has talked in the past of the need for rules of engagement, but he is not convinced introducing them will make much of a difference. "I don't know what needs to happen now," he said. "How we discuss things when we go back, I'm not quite sure how I want to engage in that." He added: "When your team-mate works against you and then you lose positions like that, it's definitely tough. So we'll just talk about it offline, and it's not really worth saying too much more. "We don't have rules of engagement, and whether or not that will change anything from Charles' side, I don't know. We've just got to figure it out, but something needs to change for sure." Leclerc felt that Hamilton had been just as aggressive as he was in the incident. **"**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. "I think he was maybe more angry with the whole situation, how the situation was dealt in \[Turns\] 4-5, with the penalty, etc. This is something we'll talk about for sure." ## Hamilton questions Leclerc's approach But however much Vasseur lays down the law ahead of the Brazilian GP to get his drivers in line, it is clear that tensions have escalated between the pair of them and that there does not seem to be much trust. While Hamilton was not totally innocent because he braked late and ran wide in the Turn 4/5 incident to help Verstappen come through, he thought the whole thing was ultimately triggered by Leclerc unnecessarily attacking him. "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," said the seven-time champion. "But the other way round, I'm in the lead, and it was just unnecessary. I think we could have easily had that 1-2, which would have been huge for the team and for everyone back at the factory who's worked so hard to bring us these upgrades. "So I don't really know what will be done because up until now nothing really has been done." And in a clear dig at his team-mate's attitude, Hamilton reckoned Leclerc was approaching racing wrongly, as he denied it was inexperience or age that was causing these situations. "The guy's 28 years old, so I don't think it's an age thing," he said. "I think it's a mentality thing. It's like 'do or die - either I win or none of us do', and it shouldn't be that. It should be us getting that 1-2. "At Silverstone, I could have gone all kamikaze on him and taken him off, and lost us the win, but instead it was a 1-3\. I'm happy for the team to have experienced that. "But I'm hopeful we'll work towards a better place, a better working place in future."