Charles Leclerc delivers conflicting view on Mexican GP clash with Lewis Hamilton

Charles Leclerc has argued that his clash with Lewis Hamilton in the Mexico City Grand Prix shouldn’t be overblown amid his teammate’s demand for talks at Ferrari.

Hamilton and Leclerc contested the lead on the first lap at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, culminating in a squabble that helped to hand the win to Max Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc on his Lap 1 fight with Lewis Hamilton

Starting on the second row in third, Leclerc emerged as the main challenger to pole-sitter Hamilton when George Russell’s Mercedes lost speed on the run down to Turn 1.

But while Hamilton preserved the high ground through the opening chicane, Leclerc was late on the brakes into Turn 4 as he tried to pass his teammate around the outside.

Both drivers ran deep, though, with Leclerc opting to cut Turn 5, inheriting the lead in the process, while Hamilton’s compromised line saw him cede a spot to Verstappen.

In order to return the place to Hamilton, Leclerc would have also had to let the Red Bull through. The Monegasque, who maintained track position instead and copped a five-second penalty, admitted that Verstappen’s presence complicated the situation.

“I mean, it was definitely an opportunity in Turn 1,” Leclerc recalled. “There was a gap on the outside, and I had quite a lot of speed around the outside of Turn 1.

“Then there was very little space for Turn 2, which is expected for the win, obviously, and then Lewis and I both tried to brake very late. We both didn’t make the corner; I obviously cut the track, which, eventually, after Turn 5, there was Max in between, which made the situation more confusing.

“And speaking with the team, I didn’t really have a clear feedback, and I think it was just confusing enough to keep the position.”

When asked whether he would have liked more guidance from the Ferrari pit wall, Leclerc responded: “I mean, we spoke briefly with the team to try and understand.

“I asked, ‘What shall I do now?’

“And it’s always very tricky.

“Obviously, in that situation, you kind of expect you have to do something, but is it second? Is it third? Is it fourth? Well, fourth probably didn’t make sense, but second or third, and yeah, at the end I kept going.

“Obviously, it’s going to be a bit of a talking point, for sure, next briefing.”

Having voiced his displeasure over team radio throughout the Grand Prix, Hamilton declared post-race that the debacle merited a “serious” internal discussion at Ferrari.

“I mean, we are fighting for the win, and so of course there’s going to be very little margin left from him and from me,” Leclerc countered.

“At the end, we both did a mistake going into Turn 4. It’s not like we had contact or whatsoever. We both went straight, and that gave the opportunity for Max to overtake.

“So yeah, I don’t think it should be that much of a talking point. Of course, it was close, and Turn 1, 2, 3 was very close. But I was expecting it to fight for the lead.

“We both made a mistake, but I paid with a penalty. Then you can argue whether it’s enough or not, and Lewis then paid out of [Turn] 5 with Max [overtaking him].”

Lewis Hamilton vs Charles Leclerc: Ferrari F1 2026 scores

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Pressed on whether there needs to be more rules in place at Ferrari to counter the growing on-track tension between the team’s drivers, Leclerc replied: “We will talk about it.

“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. So this is something more complex.”

Leclerc relinquished the lead to Verstappen when he served his penalty during his sole pit stop on Lap 27, but he had enough in hand to remain ahead of his teammate.

However, the nine-time race winner lost out to Hamilton again when Valtteri Bottas’ crash on Lap 44 triggered a stoppage that preceded a second standing start, where a lock-up into Turn 1 gave him a flat spot that also cost him a podium to Kimi Antonelli.

“I think we had quite a good pace, but unfortunately, on the secondary start, everything went a bit more difficult,” he lamented.

“There was quite a lot of marbles on the right side of the track, and when I went on the brake, even though I didn’t put a massive amount of brake pressure, I locked up straight away, and I went to the core of the tyre. So the last stint was very tricky.”

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