Lewis Hamilton calls out Charles Leclerc’s ‘do or die’ mentality after latest F1 clash

Lewis Hamilton has questioned Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc’s “do or die” mentality after the pair’s latest clash at the start of the Mexican Grand Prix.

Hamilton was left reeling at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, as an opening-lap tussle with Leclerc cost him, and Ferrari, what he believed was a probable race win.

Lewis Hamilton questions Charles Leclerc’s mindset

The Briton had lined up on pole position, but he slipped to third when Leclerc’s attack into Turn 4 allowed eventual victor Max Verstappen to nip in between the Ferrari duo.

Leclerc skated across the grass and maintained the lead he inherited, incurring a five-second time penalty; however, he was able to build a big enough gap to retain track position over Hamilton, much to the seven-time champion’s displeasure on the radio.

But although he regained his status as the lead Ferrari when Valtteri Bottas’ crash at Turn 1 necessitated a standing restart, an incensed Hamilton called for “serious talks.”

Having already taken issue with Leclerc’s combative driving at Monza earlier this year, Hamilton has now disputed the Monegasque’s approach to racing his teammates.

“Before I joined this team, when I was at Mercedes, I watched and witnessed the back and forth between Charles and Carlos [Sainz] several races, where they were battling so much that the person ahead just pulled away, and they had the pace to actually win,” Hamilton 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 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. 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. I think we got the one-two.

“Was it one-three, first and third, one-two? Whatever.

“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.”

More on the Ferrari clash at the Mexico City GP

Hamilton has since doubled down on his stance with a post on Instagram, where he suggested that it is imperative that Leclerc learns a lesson from the weekend’s debacle.

“Our own weekend was one full of challenges,” he admitted. “We had a lot thrown at us, but our mechanics and engineers did an incredible job.

“We’ve grown so much together this year, and that progress has taken a huge effort from everyone on the track and back at the factory. That’s why losing what could’ve been a win hurts so much.

“We need to grasp every opportunity we have, so it’s incredibly frustrating, and I can’t pretend otherwise.

“I know what goes into giving us that opportunity. The standard the team holds itself to, the standard I hold myself to, the standards the fans expect. Everyone deserves to see us at our best and win. We’re all here to race and want to win.

“Battling is necessary, but when that battle costs the team, we have to be honest about it and learn from it. We can push each other to the limit and still honour the responsibility to everyone who put us out on that track.

“I’ll keep giving everything I have. My belief in this team hasn’t changed and neither has my responsibility to help us get this right. Stick with us. I’m only just getting started with this team, and we have so much more to come.”

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