Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari “have to have some serious talks behind closed doors” after fighting between their two drivers cost them victory in the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Leclerc cut a chicane on the first lap to take the lead from Hamilton, who then lost second place to Max Verstappen as a consequence of his team-mate’s attack.
Verstappen went on to win the race with Hamilton second as Kimi Antonelli finished third to become the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history.
“Ultimately, that lost us the win today,” said Hamilton. “We have to have some serious talks behind closed doors.”
During a red-flag period in the race caused by a crash for Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac, Hamilton had said over team radio: “We’ve got big problems. Big, big problems.”
When informed Hamilton was unhappy, Leclerc said: “I will speak with Lewis. We both didn’t make the corner. I don’t know if Lewis’ point was for me to get P3 but having the Red Bull second I felt it was worth it to keep the position and see what happened. That’s what I did.
“I could be also unhappy with how much he pushed me off track out of Turn One, but it is racing. When you are fighting for a win it is the way it should be.”
Hamilton’s point is that if the Ferraris had worked together on the first lap, they would have been running one-two and could have controlled the race from there and likely finished in those positions.
The incident was the latest and arguably most serious of a series of tensions between Hamilton and Leclerc this season.
It follows Leclerc pushing Hamilton off track at the first corner of the Italian Grand Prix.
The race before that, Leclerc ignored a team order to let Hamilton by when they were on different strategies.
In Singapore last month, there was another incident when Hamilton felt he should have been let by when they were on different tyres, but Ferrari refused to make the call.
Verstappen, who capitalised on this latest battle in Mexico, said: “Ferrari were really fast, I do think they made it a little bit difficult for themselves fighting each other and that’s why I was able to capitalise on that. I mean, I take it, right?
More to follow.