Lewis Hamilton takes aim at Charles Leclerc's "do or die. Either I win, or none of us do" mentality
Lewis Hamilton strongly criticises teammate Charles Leclerc after the pair's dispute at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
After starting on pole, Hamilton entered Sunday's race as one of the favourites for victory. When the lights went out, the flashing red Ferrari of Leclerc leapfrogged George Russell and was running wheel-to-wheel with his teammate through the opening section of the circuit.
At Turn 4, Leclerc emerged as the leader after he cut the chicane after a botched attack from the outskirts of the track, while Hamilton ran wide at the exit and dropped two positions as Max Verstappen capitalised on the feud.
After an investigation into the incident, the stewards issued Leclerc a five-second penalty; when he served his punishment during his pit stop, Verstappen took the lead of the race. The Briton expressed his annoyance over the radio, where, during the red flag period due to Valtteri Bottas' crash, Hamilton said: "We've got big problems, big big problems".
The Red Bull driver continued to lead the pack to the chequered flag, while Hamilton crossed the line in second, less than a second adrift of Verstappen, with Leclerc in fourth.
“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 to Sky Sports in the post-race press conference.
“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 getting that one-two because 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 it was first and third.
"For me, I'm happy for the team to have experienced that. But I'm hopeful we'll work towards a better working place in the future." Hamilton stated.
Hamilton was questioned on what the best strategy is to work as unionised teammates, as this isn't the only flashpoint for the pair this season, with incidents occurring in Zandvoort and Monza.
“I don't know what needs to happen now, how we discuss things when we go back."
“I'm not quite sure how I want to engage in that. Of course, the frustrations are today. I'm happy because this guy just won the championship [Kimi Antonelli], so I'm really torn because, on one side, I'm happy, and on the other side, I'm really pissed.
“We lost valuable points, and we, as a team, worked so hard. We could have easily had a one-two today. Really, we had the pace to do so.
“We're going into Turn 4 first and second. If we just hold position, I think anything can happen in the race. But when your team-mate works against you and then you lose positions like that, it's definitely tough.
“So, we'll just talk about it offline, and it's not really worth saying too much more. We don't have rules of engagement, and whether or not that will change anything from Charles' side, I don't know."
Hamilton is now in a close fight for second position with Verstappen, as only three points separate them as they head into the final four races of the season.
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