MEXICO.- The director of Ferrari, Frédéric Vasseurdescribed this Sunday as “lack of respect” the incident carried out by his pilots, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamiltonat the exit of the Mexican Grand Prixa maneuver that ended up compromising the Italian team’s chances of victory.
Hamilton, who started from pole position, and Leclerc, third on the grid, engaged in an intense duel in the first three corners of the circuit.
Wheel to wheel, both were on the verge of contact and Leclerc was forced to pass through the grass. The stewards penalized the Monegasque with five seconds, a penalty that paved the way for the Dutchman to win. Max Verstappen (Red Bull).
Ferrari finally finished with Hamilton second and Leclerc fourth, after having occupied the first two positions at the start of the race.
“It’s not the result you expect, especially when you’re first and second after the first corner. In Mexico there hasn’t been an overtake in 72 years, so you don’t expect to finish second and fourth,” Vasseur said at the Canal+ microphone.
“It’s hard for me to digest because I think it’s a lack of respect for the brand, for all the people who work, for the efforts we make,” he added.
“Internal conversations,” asks Hamilton
“We have taken a real step forward in terms of performance, so wasting a victory like that is difficult. I haven’t spoken to them yet, we will have time to see it in four or six eyes, but it really stuck in my mind,” lamented the Frenchman.
“We must keep in mind that we represent a brand, some sponsors, that we have 2,000 people working behind us and that they (the drivers) do not race for themselves, but for all those people,” he concluded.
Hamilton, visibly upset after the race and after expressing his frustration on the radio during the test, also asked for an internal reflection on what happened.
“It was a difficult day. I think we had the pace to win today, but things didn’t go as planned. We have to have serious conversations internally, that’s for sure,” said the seven-time world champion.
Leclerc, who gave up the lead to Verstappen upon serving the sanction, finished fourth after losing positions to Hamilton and the Italian Kimi Antonelli (mercedes) after the resumption after the Finn’s accident Valtteri Bottas (cadillac).
“The penalty is clear. Neither of us makes the corner, we both braked too late. My objective was to return the position to Lewis, but Max (Verstappen) got between us, so it became difficult. We are going to talk about it,” the Monegasque declared to Canal+.
