Frederic Vasseur: Here’s what he had to say following the Ferrari row in Mexico

Following the Mexican Grand Prix, the Ferrari team principal is keeping his cards close to his chest regarding the clash between his two drivers on the first lap

The clash between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc on the first lap in Mexico has left Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur struggling to explain the situation. The 58-year-old emphasises: “When you’re in first and second place going into Turn 4, you can’t imagine that the race is lost.”

What’s particularly frustrating from the team principal’s point of view? According to Vasseur, Ferrari has made significant progress in terms of performance in recent weeks. This makes it all the more frustrating that, in the end, it was Max Verstappen who took the win and not one of his drivers.

“For me, this is hugely frustrating,” says Vasseur, “but I’m not the most important person here. It’s about the frustration of around 2,000 people working on this project. And it will take a little while to get over that.”

What happened between Hamilton and Leclerc?

Hamilton and Leclerc clashed at Turn 4 shortly after the start. Whilst the Monegasque driver attempted to squeeze past the seven-time world champion on the outside, the latter refused to give way and defended his lead on the inside line.

The result? Both went off the track, with Leclerc completely cutting the next corner and securing the lead. As a result of the duel, Hamilton lost momentum and was overtaken by Verstappen shortly afterwards.

Leclerc incurred a five-second time penalty for his manoeuvre, which he had to serve during his first pit stop. This gave Verstappen enough time to overtake the Ferrari at the same time and secure the lead in the Grand Prix.

According to Vasseur, there had been no specific briefing prior to the race regarding wheel-to-wheel duels between the Ferrari drivers. When asked whether Vasseur considered both drivers to be “at fault”, his response after the session was: “I haven’t discussed that with them yet. Let me sort that out with them first.”

Vasseur also declined to comment on Hamilton’s angry radio messages after the race. The seven-time world champion had hinted over the radio that there would be quite a lot to discuss behind the scenes.

Vasseur just as vehemently dismissed a further enquiry about the responsibility of both drivers, emphasising: “I will not comment further on this situation. Let me discuss this with the two of them. I have said what I need to say.”

At the very least, Vasseur and Leclerc both emphasise that Mexico seems to be a breeding ground for such incidents. It was not without reason that the Monegasque driver, for his part, stated after the Grand Prix: “The best solution would be if we raced on circuits where you simply can’t do something like that in the first place.”