Lewis Hamilton has issued a withering verdict on Charles Leclerc's mentality after the rivalry between the Ferrari stars boiled over once again at the Mexican Grand Prix.

The Maranello pair clashed on track just weeks after their high-profile skirmish during the early stages of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. And this time the fallout was even more explosive.

Hamilton and Leclerc battled for the lead during the first four corners of Sunday's 71-lap race before the latter cut across the second chicane to take over first place.

Having also run slightly wide himself to defend his position, Hamilton was also overtaken on the exit of Turn 5 by Max Verstappen.

Verstappen would eventually go on to win the race while Hamilton was left raging about the incident on team radio. He finished second while Leclerc - subsequently given a five-second time penalty for the incident - came home in P4.

Hamilton continued to be highly critical of Sunday's events in the post-race press conference, and gave a brutal assessment of the way Leclerc races.

Hamilton says Leclerc problem is not age, it's mentality

“I mean, before I joined this team, 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," said Hamilton.

"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 having, getting that one-two. As I said, it's still a good feeling."

Hamilton used the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in early July to back up his point, claiming he had put the interests of the team first to ensure maximum points.

"You know, Silverstone, I could have gone all kamikaze on him and taken him off and lost us the win, but instead the one-two was there. I think we got the one-two. Was it one-three, first and third, one-two? Whatever.

"For me, I'm happy for the team to have experienced that, but I'm hopeful we'll work towards a better place, a better working place, in the future.”

Furious Vasseur promises Ferrari investigation

Team principal Fred Vasseur was also furious about what had transpired on track at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, and promised action.

"I'm not pointing fingers at anyone; I want to talk to both of them. When you start first and third in Mexico, where no one has overtaken for 72 years, you don't expect to finish second and fourth.”