Hamilton Refuses to Back Down Over Leclerc Criticism Ahead of São Paulo
Lewis Hamilton has refused to back down over his criticism of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, saying he will not be silenced. The Guardian reports that he made the comments before the São Paulo Grand Prix, after the pair's clash in Mexico.
The trouble started on the opening lap in Mexico City. Leclerc tried to pass Hamilton around the outside at Turn 4, one of the corners on the lap, and went off the track. Hamilton went wide on the exit of the same corner, and the gap that opened up let Max Verstappen through. Verstappen went on to win the race.
Hamilton started from pole, the fastest spot on the grid, and finished second. Leclerc, who qualified third, was handed a five-second time penalty for gaining an advantage and finished fourth, according to Reuters.
Afterwards, Hamilton said Ferrari had "big, big problems". He blamed Leclerc for costing the team a shot at victory and described his teammate's mindset as "do or die, either I win or none of us do." Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was frustrated that the two drivers raced each other so hard on the first lap, handing Red Bull an opening, as Formula 1 reported.
Ferrari do not have formal rules of engagement, the written agreements some teams use to set out how teammates may race each other. Hamilton joined the team in 2025, while Leclerc has been at Ferrari since 2019. Hamilton said the two had not yet had the chance to sit down with Vasseur about Mexico.
Mexico was not the first time the pair had been at odds on track this season. Earlier, after a near-collision at Monza, Hamilton said the two shared a good racing relationship and that nothing lingered between them. Hamilton has now made it clear he stands by his words, and the Mexico incident is the third time they have clashed this year.
Leclerc missed media commitments in São Paulo on Thursday to attend the birth of his first child, so his response to Hamilton's comments is still to come.
The stakes are also on the championship table. Mercedes have already secured the drivers' title with Kimi Antonelli, according to the Guardian. They can now wrap up the constructors' championship, the title for teams, in Brazil if they outscore Ferrari by three points over the weekend. Every point in the Ferrari garage will be watched closely.
For the fans in the grandstands at Interlagos, the story is simple enough. Two drivers who share a team are fighting for the same result, and the team is paying for it. Whether that changes how Ferrari run their race weekends will become clear on the track.
