Hamilton stands by Leclerc criticism as Ferrari face crunch talks in Brazil

Lewis Hamilton has declined to soften his criticism of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, insisting he will not be silenced over comments made after their clash at last Sunday's Mexico Grand Prix.

The pair collided while racing each other into turn four on the opening lap in Mexico City, with Leclerc attempting to pass his teammate and running wide in the process. Hamilton's defence of the position left him exposed to Max Verstappen, who passed and went on to win the race, denying Ferrari a possible one-two finish.

Ferrari have no formal rules of engagement governing how their drivers race each other. Hamilton said at the time that the team had "big, big problems" and later placed the blame for the lost result squarely on Leclerc, suggesting his teammate's approach amounted to a win-at-all-costs mentality. "The guy is 29 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'," Hamilton said, according to the Guardian.

Speaking ahead of this weekend's São Paulo Grand Prix, Hamilton made clear he had no intention of retreating from those remarks. "I don't really care what everyone thinks about what I said, I wear my heart on my sleeve and I say how I feel in the moment," he said. "Of course there's times you say things and maybe you might regret it afterwards. I don't."

He went further, rejecting any suggestion that Ferrari had asked him to temper his comments. "I'm never going to apologise for being authentic and real and I'm not going to be silenced. I have not been asked to not say anything and that's just the way it is," Hamilton said.

Leclerc did not fulfil his media duties on Thursday in São Paulo, with the Guardian reporting he was attending the birth of his first child, and has yet to publicly respond to Hamilton's criticism. Hamilton noted that neither driver has yet sat down with team principal Fred Vasseur to address what happened in Mexico.

According to Yahoo Sports and Autosport, Vasseur returned to Maranello after the Mexico weekend while Leclerc travelled to be with his family, meaning the three parties have had no opportunity to meet since the incident. That meeting has now been pushed to Interlagos, where Leclerc was due to arrive in the paddock.

Yahoo Sports and Autosport both frame the sit-down as significant not for apportioning blame over Mexico, but for establishing a working principle that Ferrari's wider interests cannot be jeopardised by an internal fight when the team is in a position to win a race.

The timing is pointed given Ferrari's recent form. Yahoo Sports and Autosport report that after a season spent chasing performance with the SF-26, the team has found competitive answers in recent grands prix, with results across that run supporting the improvement, only for the Hamilton-Leclerc tension to resurface just as the car has become capable of fighting for victories.

Leclerc has driven for Ferrari since 2019, while Hamilton joined last year in 2025, and the two had, by Hamilton's own account, built a good working relationship before the Mexico flashpoint. Whether that meeting with Vasseur takes place, and what ground rules emerge from it, will shape how the team manages its two front-running drivers through the remainder of the season, starting with this weekend's race at Interlagos.