Fred Vasseur told to act before Ferrari situation 'gets really bad'

Nico Rosberg has implored Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur to "act" and implement clear racing guidelines for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to adhere to.

The words of warning from the 2016 F1 drivers' champion come after Hamilton and Leclerc clashed on the first lap of the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Not for the first time this season, the Ferrari team-mates racing each other have cost Scuderia points. And at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the pair squandered the ideal position from which to fight for victory, having emerged from the opening sequence of corners in first and second.

Vasseur was keen to express how unacceptable he viewed the incident, citing what he believed to be a "lack of respect" for all those who work for and represent the Italian team.

Hamilton was equally unimpressed by Leclerc's aggressive antics, venting his frustration over team radio during the race and sharing pointed remarks after the chequered flag, having finished second with his team-mate down in fourth.

To Rosberg, however, it is on the Ferrari boss to rein that behaviour in by establishing rules of engagement for his two drivers.

"It's really Fred Vasseur; he needs to start to act," he told Sky Sports F1. "Because, as Lewis said, before the race, there was no discussion — like clear racing guidelines between the two, and it needs to happen.

"Otherwise, it's just going to keep going like this, and it gets really bad when the drivers take it in their own hands and disregard whatever's being discussed and just take it in their own hands and sort it out on track and barge the other guy out of the way.

"That can very quickly happen, and it's already kind of happening."

Rosberg: Leclerc had already 'messed up'

The main point of contention came at Turn 4, when Leclerc swept around the outside of Hamilton. Both approached the corner too quickly and went off-track, with the former cutting across the grass and the latter losing momentum.

The Monegasque driver had planned to give the position back, but Max Verstappen seized upon the opportunity, taking second from the seven-time F1 drivers' champion.

It left Leclerc with no option but to suffer a five-second time penalty, which helped the Red Bull driver take the lead during the pit stop phase.

But Rosberg felt the wheel-to-wheel action had already gone too far, highlighting the out-of-control way in which Leclerc approached the corners prior.

"Even on that first wheel-to-wheel that they had in Turns 2 and 3, Charles was bouncing over the inside into Lewis," he added.

"He was not holding the line, Charles. So already that was too much from Charles, so he messed up already there."