Ferrari had the pace to win in Mexico City on Sunday. They walked away with second and fourth, and a public row between their two drivers.
Hamilton started from pole, kept Verstappen behind through Turn 1 and was still ahead when Leclerc attacked around the outside at Turn 4 on the opening lap. Both drivers ran deep. Hamilton pushed wide on the inside and Leclerc emerged in front after cutting across the grass. Verstappen slipped past both of them.
Leclerc was given a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The stewards explained their decision by saying the baseline sanction for the move was 10 seconds but had been reduced because Hamilton was also off the inside and the incident came so early on lap one. Hamilton saw it differently.
‘We don’t have rules of engagement’
The seven-time world champion told Planet F1 the clash had cost Ferrari valuable points and a one-two the team had the pace to deliver.
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He pointed at an agreement he said the drivers had made before the race.
“In [the] drivers’ briefing, we discussed as soon as you go off in Turn 1, you have to give the position back,” Hamilton said, adding that he had been penalised 10 seconds for the same move a year earlier.
Asked how Ferrari should fix the problem, Hamilton pointed at the absence of a formal framework.
“We don’t have rules of engagement, and whether or not that will change anything from Charles’ side, I don’t know.”
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Hamilton added that something needed to change and that he was unsure how the team would address it on their return to Maranello.
Leclerc pushes back
Leclerc struck a different tone. He told reporters he was open to talking but was not accepting all the blame.
“We will talk about it obviously. 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,” Leclerc said.
The Monegasque suggested Hamilton’s frustration was less about the move itself than about everything that followed: the penalty, losing track position to Verstappen and, later, being overtaken by Kimi Antonelli for third.
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Vasseur: ‘A lack of respect’
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur did not spare either driver. Speaking after the race, as reported by Racer, Vasseur accused both drivers of letting the team down after it had taken a step forward on performance.
“I’m struggling to swallow it because, honestly, I think it’s a lack of respect, a lack of respect for the brand, a lack of respect for all the people working here and for the efforts we’re putting in,” Vasseur said.
A title already settled
Hamilton’s second place and Verstappen’s win pushed Ferrari no closer to a championship already out of reach. Antonelli clinched the 2026 drivers’ title at the same race, passing Leclerc after the standing restart to take third and become the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history.
Hamilton finished 0.8 seconds behind Verstappen at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
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