Charles Leclerc has hit back with a defiant message after Sunday's high-profile flashpoint with Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the Mexican Grand Prix.

The 29-year-old Monegasque was once again at the centre of internal tensions at Maranello when he clashed with race leader Hamilton on Lap 1 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Heading into turn four, Leclerc tried to make his move to pass Hamilton around the outside, but ultimately ran off the track and therefore cut the corner at turn five.

Leclerc gained first place as a result of this, and while Hamilton also went off track after turn four, he made it back between the white lines for turn five rather than cutting the corner and yielded second position to Max Verstappen.

The stewards handed Leclerc a five-second penalty for the incident, which would ultimately be devastating to Ferrari's hopes of a race win. Hamilton eventually finished second behind Verstappen, with Leclerc fourth.

The fallout was predictably explosive, with Hamilton demanding showdown talks and bemoaning once again the apparent lack of rules of engagement for Ferrari's drivers.

Leclerc's response to Hamilton fallout: 'I always attack'

Leclerc's response was defiant, and three words from his post-race quotes would appear to highlight the crux of the problem - "I always attack".

He told media: "There was a gap in Turns 1-2, and when you can fight for the win, I always attack.

"In Turns 4-5, I braked as late as possible; I think Lewis did the same, and we both didn't complete the corner."

Leclerc claimed he wanted to give Hamilton the position back, but having Verstappen sandwiched in between confused matters.

"In my head, I had already decided to give him the position back, but then Lewis was overtaken by Max.

"At that point, I thought it was worth trying to see what would happen, because it was a rather confusing situation."

What this means for Ferrari

This is not the first time the Hamilton vs Leclerc rivalry has led to a major flashpoint - as recently as early September they had clashed early in the Italian Grand Prix with similar fallout.

With Hamilton now still calling out the lack of internal rules, and Leclerc apparently unwilling to change his attacking style, just where do Ferrari go from here?

At this stage it is difficult to imagine everything remaining exactly the way they are in 2027, with tensions running high in Maranello.

Scuderia boss Fred Vasseur has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks, with the team even holding an emergency media call to defend him after Monza.

As for Hamilton and Leclerc, both remain under contract with the latter only recently having inked a long-term extension.

Right now it is a mess, but who is going to clean it up?