Ferrari executive chairman John Elkann stepped in with instructions for team principal Fred Vasseur ahead of showdown talks with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, according to a report from Italy.

After their on-track scuffle at the Mexican Grand Prix, Hamilton called for 'serious' talks within the team after he felt the way Leclerc raced him in the opening stages in Mexico City handed Max Verstappen the race victory.

Those talks took place ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend, but it appears to be business as usual at Ferrari despite Hamilton doubling down on his criticism of how his team-mate races him differently to others on media day this week.

Vasseur confirmed in a press conference on Friday that 'the guidelines are still the same', but reiterated that the drivers firstly 'need to respect the brand'.

John Elkann steps in at Ferrari

Now, a report from Italy has claimed that Vasseur was under guidance from Ferrari's top brass in that meeting, with Elkann himself having given some direct instructions.

According to Autoracer.it, the 'Ferrari first, then drivers' reminder came directly from Elkann, with the Scuderia's management team having been irritated by the fallout in Mexico and the damage it was doing to their reputation.

Indeed, their report claims that rather than the meeting being about assigning blame for what happened in Mexico, it was more about trying to prevent a similar scenario, both on track and in the media, from happening again.

Autoracer claims that the lack of change in hierarchy between the drivers 'seems to be less popular with the British seven-time world champion', though, who they report believes that the lead he has maintained over Leclerc in the standings since the start of the season could justify a higher priority within the team.

Hamilton on crunch Ferrari talks

There was no suggestion of that from the Brit when speaking to the media after qualifying on Saturday. Hamilton confirmed that he and Leclerc had now moved on from what happened in Mexico, but insisted it wasn't Vasseur that had cleared the air.

"Fred [Vasseur] hasn't cleared the air in the sense of me and Charles [Leclerc] sat and spoke, and we squashed it and we're moving on," Hamilton told Sky Sports.

"We still have a huge amount of respect for each other and I'm glad we had a chat and now we move on.

"We've been getting along just fine as normal. Sometimes in those scenarios it takes having a conversation and there's been no demands from either side, it's both just giving our points and areas we can do better and support each other. I'm hoping to have better races moving forwards."