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The Brit kept his lead off the start, but teammate Leclerc found himself in second and looked to make a move into turn four. Both Ferraris ran wide, and the Monegasque driver was handed a five-second penalty.
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Leclerc’s move on Hamilton was too ‘bold’, according to Nico Rosberg and Damon Hill. It ultimately proved costly for Ferrari as Max Verstappen claimed the win in Mexico, with Hamilton finishing second and Leclerc P4.
Verstappen sided with Hamilton in that Leclerc should have received a harsher penalty. He gained the lead of the race with the move, but did not hand the position back.
James Hinchcliffe agreed that Leclerc should have faced a heavier penalty, and he believes that ‘difficult conversations’ will be coming in Maranello.
He said on F1TV: “Well, I foolishly said, ‘No, it’ll be fine. They’ve been read the Riot Act. They know what they need to do.’ And the short answer is, they don’t.
“I’m pretty floored by it if I’m completely honest. You’ve got two drivers here who do nothing but talk about their love for the brand, the respect for Ferrari that they have, and yet actions speak louder than words.
“And this is two very selfish moves from both guys. I’m shocked that they let it go this far. I’m also surprised that the penalty to Charles wasn’t a little harsher than it could have been.
“It was just so unnecessary from both guys. And I actually commend Fred there in that interview. Maybe he already has had a chance to cool off, but there’s going to be some real difficult conversations coming.”
Juan Pablo Montoya called for Leclerc and Hamilton to receive ‘penalties’ for their actions, as they jeopardised Ferrari’s weekend and denied a potential one-two finish.
He said: “They have to be. There have to be proper conversations and there has to be penalties. They need to know there’s going to be consequences to what they’re doing because they should have won today.”
Hinchcliffe added: “Max is incredible. Red Bull executed beautifully. But this was not a race that Red Bull won. This was a race that Ferrari lost, and if you look at the tracks coming up, I think this was their best chance for the rest of the year to get a win.
“They deserved it. They qualified well and their drivers let them down today.”
Friction between Leclerc and Hamilton is not what Ferrari needs, and it again sparks debate about the team’s rules of engagement and how the drivers should be helping the team, rather than holding them back.
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