Ferrari delivers dressing-down after Hamilton and Leclerc throw away victory

Fred Vasseur has chastised Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for a lack of “respect” for the people back in the factory working “night and day” to deliver a better SF-26 while they squabble on track.

Hamilton and Leclerc cost Ferrari a possible 1-2 in Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix through their Lap 1 antics.

‘Remember who’s working for you’ – Fred Vasseur tears into Ferrari drivers

Hamilton lined up on pole position, but he was challenged for the lead by Leclerc when his teammate stormed up behind on the long run to Turn 1.

Leclerc backed out of his first challenge, but sent it down the outside at Turn 4 only for Hamilton to also brake deep, running them both wide.

Leclerc, who came out of the battle in first place on the track, was given a five-second penalty while Hamilton lost a position to Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver would go on to win ahead of Hamilton, with Leclerc in fourth place.

Hamilton decried Leclerc working “against” him, while the Monegasque felt “both” drivers had made a mistake.

Refusing to apportion blame, Vasseur called out both Hamilton and Leclerc for a lack of respect towards the staff in the factory working to give them a car that could have won the Mexican Grand Prix.

“I think this is what means respect,” he said.

“They are not working for themselves. They are working for a group. They are working for a lot of sponsors. They are working for the 2,000 people of the company. That the guys, when we had to push for the upgrades, they were working night and day.

“And you have to keep this in mind.”

Pressed on who was responsible, Vasseur said: “I don’t… I didn’t discuss with them.”

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Despite the FIA stewards warning the drivers ahead of the race that they would penalise Lap 1 incidents at Turn 4, specifically stating that any driver cutting a corner would have to “yield” the position by “Turn 12 [in the case of a car leaving the track in the area of Turns 4 to 6]”, Leclerc defended his cause.

“We,” said Leclerc, “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.”

The stewards gave Leclerc a five-second penalty.

Vasseur says Leclerc was well aware of that.

“The regulation is clear that you have to give back the position in this case before Turn 11,” he said.

“And we agreed before the race that they have to do it by themselves.”

Vasseur also would not entertain Hamilton’s claim that Leclerc was working against him or that Ferrari had “big” problems.

“The comments of Lewis, we discuss with Lewis, and the comments of Charles, we discuss with Charles,” he said.

“What I see is the result. The result is that we had a win on the table. We were 1-2 in Mexico, and when you are 1-2 you don’t imagine that you can lose the race, and we were able to do it.”

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