SAO PAULO, Nov 6 : Ferrari held talks to clear the air after a expensive conflict between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc ultimately weekend’s Mexico Metropolis Grand Prix, with staff principal Frederic Vasseur saying the pair had now moved on and turned their focus to the Sao Paulo race.
The assembly adopted Hamilton’s public criticism of the opening-lap incident, which derailed Ferrari’s hopes of a one-two end, with the Briton saying once more on Thursday that he remained pissed off by what had occurred.
“We did it yesterday night,” Vasseur informed reporters at Interlagos on Friday. “It was good to debate, good to make clear my place and their place. It was good to do, and now we flip the web page and we’re specializing in the subsequent one.”
Leclerc, who turned a father this week, arrived in Brazil on Thursday however missed the primary apply session, with teenager Dino Beganovic standing in for the Monegasque.
Hamilton began from pole in Mexico however misplaced out after a battle with Leclerc by the opening corners pressured each Ferraris off monitor, permitting race winner Max Verstappen to take benefit.
The seven-times world champion mentioned after the race that it was troublesome when a “teammate works in opposition to you” and advised Ferrari wanted to revisit how their drivers raced each other.
Vasseur mentioned the staff’s expectations had not modified regardless of the flare-up.
“The rules are nonetheless the identical,” he mentioned.
“They should respect one another. They’re two opponents with the combating spirit for certain, however they should have respect for the opposite one. However primarily, they should respect the model, the staff.”
Vasseur additionally dismissed recommendations that variations in persona between Hamilton and Leclerc posed a broader drawback for the Maranello-based staff.
“We’ve got two skilled guys, two aggressive guys… It is a selection within the lineup. I’ve the optimistic and the destructive. I’ll cope with the destructive.
“I am not asking them to be finest mates. I feel it is even most likely a bit destructive. I am simply asking them to behave and to work as professionals,” he added.
The state of affairs prompted a well-known response from Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who likened the episode to the extreme rivalry between Hamilton and Nico Rosberg throughout Mercedes’ title-dominating years within the 2010s.
“Fred right here would not want any recommendation from me, nevertheless it’s like a deja vu,” Wolff mentioned. “Typically it wants the actually powerful ones, just like the final one, to make a degree.”