Ferrari boss reveals outcome of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc talks

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has revealed that behind-closed-doors talks have been held with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to address the mounting tensions between them.

The Italian marque saw a probable win go begging in the Mexico City Grand Prix when Hamilton and Leclerc’s opening-lap duel allowed Max Verstappen to profit.

Ferrari addresses tension between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc

Hamilton scolded Leclerc post-race, claiming that his Ferrari stablemate has a “do or die” approach to wheel-to-wheel combat that predates his arrival at the team in 2025.

The Briton, who was the standalone Ferrari driver to speak to the media on Thursday as Leclerc was a late arrival following the birth of his first child, has since doubled down on his stance, contending there is an added edge to how his teammate races him.

Unsurprisingly, then, Vasseur was inundated with questions during his appearance in the team principals’ press conference at the Brazilian Grand Prix about the palpable intra-team friction at his squad.

Vasseur, who worked with both Hamilton and Leclerc prior to pairing the two drivers together in Formula 1 at Ferrari, divulged that a discussion had taken place prior to this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix to draw a line under the incident from Mexico.

“We did it yesterday evening because I had to fly back to Europe between the two races,” Vasseur said when asked whether he had had the chance to speak with his drivers.

“It went well. It was good to discuss, good to clarify my position and their position. That was good to do, and now we turn the page, and we are focused on the next one.”

Vasseur would not be drawn on what the conversation entailed, though he did stress that both parties have been reminded that Ferrari must take precedence above all else.

“For sure, in this situation, we failed collectively because we were 1-2 and we didn’t win the race at the end,” he admitted. “That means that it’s clear that we failed, and we have to react.

“But yeah, the conclusion of the meeting yesterday evening was clear. It was a clear reminder that Ferrari is coming first, is coming first for the brand, for the employees, for the Tifosi, and this we have to keep in mind.”

Following a close shave between the two at Monza, Hamilton publicised that Ferrari doesn’t have rules of engagement in place to guard against potential on-track clashes.

Despite another squabble occurring since then, Vasseur has underlined that the side’s racing guidelines will remain unchanged – at least for the remainder of this campaign.

“The guidelines are still the same,” he said.

“I think they accumulated perhaps a bit of frustration because they are starting each weekend side by side, and you have a kind of accumulation.

“But at the end of the day, the guidelines are always the same: they need to respect each other. They are two competitors with a fighting spirit for sure, but they need to have respect for the other one.

“But mainly and firstly, they need to respect the brand, the team, the people working at home, the people working at the on track. I think we are putting a lot of effort on this, and the message was clear and will stay clear.”

More on the driver conflict at Ferrari

Vasseur also disputed Hamilton’s insistence that Leclerc races him harder than other drivers on the grid, highlighting that the latter was similarly aggressive with his bold first-lap move on Verstappen into the esses in the preceding United States Grand Prix.

“I’m not sure that he says something like this,” he countered. “He said that he was fighting probably a bit harder with him than with some other.

“But if you have a look on what Charles did in Austin in the first section, everybody said that it was magic, and the line is fine between the two. But he didn’t crash into the other car, also. It was not an aggression.”

Vasseur added that it was “harsh” to propose that Hamilton and Leclerc can’t battle cleanly wheel-to-wheel, citing that the pair still avoided contact despite their skirmish.

“Unable, it’s a bit harsh,” the Frenchman responded when that notion was put to him. “I didn’t see a contact between the two cars.

“Also, it’s taking proportion, huge proportion, because we were 1-2, but there was no contact between cars. It’s not always like this between two teammates.

“For sure, it’s not a good move because when you are 1-2, you are expecting to stay 1-2, and we didn’t.

“But overall, we still scored the highest number of points on the weekend. I would have preferred to finish P1 for sure, but we have to take it to stay calm and to take it step by step.”