Hamilton criticizes Leclerc’s mentality after Mexico GP clash
MEXICO CITY – Lewis Hamilton questioned the mentality of teammate Charles Leclerc and called for ‘changes’ at Ferrari following a first-lap clash between the pair at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Hamilton faced immediate pressure from Leclerc at the start, needing to defend into Turn 1 while the Monegasque dispatched the slow-starting George Russell, with the Brit requiring defense.
A close encounter in the initial section saw both drivers go off-track at Turns 4 and 5, with Leclerc cutting across the grass to take the lead.
Hamilton lost second place to Max Verstappen and immediately informed his team that he had been “put out by my own teammate.”.
Leclerc received a five-second penalty for the incident but could have won had it not been for a red flag triggered by Valtteri Bottas’ significant crash at Turn 1.
During that period, a visibly and audibly irritated Hamilton used the radio again, telling the team there were “big problems.”.
Verstappen inherited the lead prior to the red flag, as Leclerc pitted to serve his penalty, leaving the Dutchman as the net leader of the race.
Leclerc flat-spotted a tyre on the restart, dropping him further down the order to finish fourth, while Verstappen held off Hamilton at the flag, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli third to take the World Championship.
For Hamilton, the race had been ruined, and he insinuated that Leclerc had ‘worked against’ him rather than working with him for the benefit of the team.
“I don’t know what needs to happen now,” he told media, including Motorsport Week. “How we discuss things when we go back I’m not quite sure how I want to engage in that course of discussions 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 pissed.
“We lost valuable points, and we, as a team, worked so hard. We could have easily had a one-two today. Really, we had the pace to do so.
“We’re going into Turn 4 first and second. If we just hold 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.
“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.”
Lewis Hamilton came under threat from Charles Leclerc at the start.
Lewis Hamilton slams ‘do or die’ attitude from Charles Leclerc.
When asked whether a different approach should be taken when battling for a race-winning position rather than a lesser points place, Hamilton questioned what he described as Leclerc’s apparent “do or die” attitude.
“I mean, before I joined this team, when I was at Mercedes, I watched and witnessed the back-and-forth between Charles and Carlos [Sainz] [in] several races, where they were battling so much that the person ahead just pulled away, and they had the pace to actually win,” he said.
“But it is one thing when that’s happening in fourth and fifth, as opposed to first and second, and you lose the win. That’s significant.
“The guy [Leclerc] is 28 years old, so I don’t think it’s an age thing. 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 having, getting that one-two. As I said, it’s still a good feeling.
“You know, Silverstone, I could have gone all kamikaze on him and taken him off and lost us the win, but instead the one-two was there [sic. 1-3].
“For me, 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 the future.”
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