Hamilton and Leclerc give contrasting verdicts on Ferrari's Mexico City flashpoint
Ferrari left the Mexico City Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton second and Charles Leclerc fourth, and a lap-one dispute between the pair still hanging over the team.
Hamilton had started from his first pole position for Ferrari, with Leclerc third on the grid. After Leclerc cleared George Russell at the start, the two red cars ran side by side through the opening corners. Into Turn 4, Leclerc went on the attack around the outside. The stewards later judged that both cars entered the corner with excessive speed and neither could have made it on track. Hamilton ran wide on the exit, while Leclerc cut across the grass and rejoined in front.
Max Verstappen took advantage of Hamilton's lost momentum and slipped past him for second. Hamilton complained over the radio that he had been pushed out by his own team-mate. The stewards gave Leclerc a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. They reduced it from the usual 10 seconds because Hamilton had also gone off.
Leclerc kept the lead, built a gap in clean air and served the penalty at his first stop, which let Verstappen through. Verstappen's advantage was wiped out when a red flag was thrown on lap 46 after Valtteri Bottas's crash. At the restart after the 30-minute delay, Hamilton passed Leclerc for second and held the place to the flag. Kimi Antonelli passed Leclerc for third on lap 48 and went on to clinch the title, which left Leclerc fourth.
Hamilton did not want to dwell on it afterwards. "I'd rather talk about Kimi," he said. "Kimi's just won the world championship, youngest world champion ever. We'd love to keep on that positive."
He did say Ferrari's missed opportunity was clear to see. "With Charles, I think you could see what happened and the reason we lost the win," Hamilton said. "But otherwise, just now I'm really happy, really honoured to be up there with Kimi and with Max, three world champions. Pretty cool moments."
Leclerc accepted the sanction but explained why he kept the position. "The penalty was deserved in a way," he said. "The thing is that it was a bit confusing because we both didn't make Turn 4, then I stayed ahead and then Max got past Lewis. So then I asked what I should do, and I kept the position and I took a deserved penalty."
With Verstappen already in second, giving the place back would have cost Ferrari two positions instead of one. “I don’t know if Lewis’s point was for me to get P3, but at least having a Red Bull second, I felt it was worth it to keep the position and see what happens,” Leclerc said. “That’s what I did.”
The afternoon turned against him from there. "The pace was really good," Leclerc said. "Overall I think was quite strong, but unfortunately, coming to the second start, we struggled quite a bit. The track wasn't so clean, but it's the way it is."
Leclerc also had a point to make about Hamilton's driving. "I could also be unhappy with how much he pushed me on the track out of Turn 1," he said. "But I think it's racing. When you are fighting for a win, it's the way it should be."
Hamilton leaves Mexico City third in the standings on 259 points, two behind Verstappen. Leclerc is fifth on 245. Ferrari remain second in the constructors' championship on 504 points. Leclerc said he will speak to Hamilton before the team moves on to São Paulo on 8 November.
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