Charles Leclerc fires back after intense Lewis Hamilton spat

Charles Leclerc does not believe his race-defining clash with Lewis Hamilton on the first lap of the Mexico City Grand Prix will be "much of a talking point" internally at Ferrari.

The incident between the team-mates at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez cost them a clear shot at victory, having emerged from the opening sequence of corners first and second.

Hamilton led from pole, but when Leclerc attacked into Turn 4, the seven-time F1 drivers' champion responded by braking late. Neither made the corner.

This not only culminated in a five-second time penalty for the latter, after he cut the corner and took the lead, but it also opened the door for Max Verstappen to snatch second off the former.

The confluence of events left Leclerc unable to hand the position back to Hamilton without giving the Red Bull driver the lead.

His team-mate was angered by the situation, taking to team radio to vent his frustration in no uncertain terms, highlighting the disadvantage to his race and insisting there were "big problems" to address.

Leclerc defended the decision not to give place back to Hamilton, but did acknowledge it would be a talking point on some level.

"I didn't really have clear feedback, and I think it was just confusing enough to keep the position," he told media, including RacingNews365. "I was expecting some kind of penalty...

"I spoke briefly with the team to try to understand. I asked, 'What shall I do now?'

"It's always very tricky. And obviously, in that situation, you kind of expect to... you have to do something, but is it second? Is it third? Is it fourth? Well, fourth probably didn't make sense, but second or third.

"In the end, I kept going. Obviously, it's going to be a bit of a talking point for sure at the next briefing."

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Leclerc defends himself

Verstappen took advantage when Leclerc served his punishment during the pit stop phase, taking a lead he would not relinquish despite the later Valtteri Bottas-induced red flag and second standing start.

The Monegasque driver, on the other hand, faltered and ended up finishing fourth, behind Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli, who clinched the F1 drivers' championship.

Defending his approach to the opening lap skirmish, Leclerc played down how significant the incident was, and how much time it would occupy in the next Ferrari briefing.

"We are fighting for the win, and so, of course, there's going to be very little margin left from him and from me," he stated.

"In the end, we both made a mistake going into Turn 4. It's not like we had contact or whatever. We both went straight, and that gave the opportunity for Max to overtake.

"So, I don't think it should be that much of a talking point.

"Of course, it was close; [Turns] 1-2-3 was very close, but I was expecting it to fight for the lead.

"[Turns] 4 [and] 5, we both made a mistake that I paid for with a penalty. Then you can argue whether it's enough or not, and Lewis then paid out of [Turn] 5 with Max."