Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc clash triggers Brundle Ferrari warning
There were Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc fireworks in Mexico
Martin Brundle expects Ferrari to say at the Brazilian Grand Prix that the Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc incident has been understood, and the team is moving on.
However, the reality is that there will be fireworks between this partnership again down the line, so says nine-time podium finisher turned Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle.
Brundle expects future Lewis Hamilton Charles Leclerc clash
Ferrari was earmarked as a contender by Mercedes’ George Russell going into the Mexican Grand Prix, as he pointed to the potential “advantage” of the Scuderia’s smaller turbo in those high altitude conditions.
The Red team indeed packed a punch as Hamilton claimed his first Ferrari pole, with Leclerc at the head of the second row.
Both Ferraris got away very well, but by Turn 4, the teammates went head-to-head and both went wide. That opened the door for Verstappen to pass Hamilton, while Leclerc – who picked up a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage – was picked off in pit lane.
Verstappen went on to claim the win, while Hamilton pointed the finger at Leclerc. The Monegasque has stood his ground.
The F1 2026 action continues thick and fast with this week’s Brazilian Grand Prix. Brundle is expecting Ferrari to display a united front, but warns that the flashpoints, in his opinion, are not over.
“Yeah, I think it cost them,” Brundle said of the battling Ferraris in Mexico when speaking on Sky Sports News.
“Max was pretty quick, but I think the squabbling cost them because it cost Lewis track position quite badly with Max.
“They both ran wide in Turn 4. As Charles goes around the outside, Lewis went off as well.
“Charles should have given the place back, but he couldn’t because cunning old Max Verstappen got himself in between the two Ferraris, as he often does, as he tried to do back in Madrid earlier on in the year.
“So you know what, they’re hardwired racing drivers.
“It’s a curious business we have where you perform as an individual, totally in a team environment. You’re measured as an individual. You’re rewarded as an individual, and then when the adrenaline is up, and the chance of the gap is there, as the great Ayrton Senna said, ‘If you don’t go for a gap, you’re no longer a racing driver,’ and that’s what they did.
“There’s some frustration. Charles had some frustrations this year, so it doesn’t look pretty for the team. It’s like when Lando [Norris] ran into Oscar Piastri in Singapore in the sprint race. It doesn’t look pretty for the team, and you’ve let 1,500 people down, and that’s just the car side without the power unit side, and you’ve let people down in your team.
“You’re only the final link in the chain of your team, but you’re the one out there that’s got to deliver in the heat of the moment.
“So Ferrari will have to manage that down somehow. They’ll sit down, and we’ll go to Brazil, we’ll head over there, and they will say, ‘Yes. We sat down, understood it all, and we move forward. It won’t happen again.’ But in reality, we know that it will.”
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Team principal Fred Vasseur, following the race, made a point of both drivers needing to respect the team over their individual interests.
“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 would add: “I don’t… I didn’t discuss with them.”
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