‘It's a matter of respect’ – Vasseur airs frustrations over Ferrari intra-team clash in Mexico

Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur couldn't hide his frustration after an intra-team battle on the opening lap of the Mexico City Grand Prix proved costly in a race that held such promise.

On the face of it P2 and P4 was a decent result in the context of the highly competitive battle among the top four teams. However, this was a race that the Maranello team should have won – and it was lost after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc raced each other too hard on the first lap, opening the door for Max Verstappen and Red Bull to take the victory.

The frustration was that the hardest part of the job had already been done. Not only did polesitter Hamilton hang onto top spot on the drag to Turn 1, from his third spot Leclerc was able to jump front row man George Russell and slot into second.

It was at the tight Turn 4 that the red cars both ran wide as they disputed the same piece of road and, while Leclerc cut across the grass to take the lead, Hamilton rejoined the track, lost momentum, and was passed by Verstappen.

It was obvious to all that Leclerc had gained an advantage and had to cede the place, but matters were complicated by the Red Bull being in between the Ferraris.

He opted to stick it out and build an advantage before he earned the inevitable penalty – five seconds when the stewards had the option for 10 – and he subsequently lost the lead to Verstappen when he took it at his stop.

After the red flag and resumption Hamilton got up to second, but he could do nothing about the RB22 up ahead on a day when managing temperatures made it hard to follow. Having locked up the restart Leclerc was perhaps fortunate to hang on to P4.

After the flag Vasseur did not hide his frustrations when speaking to the media. For a few brief seconds Ferrari had run one-two at a track where passing is hard, and between them the drivers had seemingly scored a massive own goal. Leclerc blamed the track layout, but Vasseur saw a bigger picture.

“The layout of the track for sure is not helping,” he said. “Because if you have a look, the last couple of years we had this kind of issue. But it can't be an excuse at all.

“Honestly, I'm a bit frustrated, because I think we did a proper step forward in terms of performance the last couple of events, and we were one-two at Turn 4. I don't remember the last overtaking in Mexico, perhaps at the end of the seventies.

“And when you are one-two at Turn 4, you don't imagine that you don't win the race. It's a lot of frustration for me, but I'm not the most important. I think it's a lot of frustration for the 2,000 people working for the project – and this I will need time to digest.”

Asked if there had been a pre-race discussion about first lap protocol, he said: “I think we can discuss ages for this, but it's not a matter to discuss before if you are on the right-hand side, if you are on the left-hand side. My only discussion, it's a matter of respect.”

Vasseur reiterated his opinion on respect when asked about the drivers putting their own interests above that of the team.

“I think this is typically what respect means,” he said. “They are not working for themselves. They are working for a group. They are working for a lot of sponsors. They are working for the 2,000 people of the company. The guys, when we had to push for the upgrades, they were working night and day – and we have to keep this in mind.”

Leclerc said he wanted better direction from the pit wall about giving back the place or not, and Vasseur admitted that it wasn’t easy to make a call.

“It was not very clear,” he said. “We had discussion with the race control. But you have to act before Turn 11. Turn 11, you have five seconds delay between the video and the reality, it meant that you are already in Turn 11."

What he did indicate was that Leclerc could, or perhaps should, have made his own decision.

“The regulation is clear that you have to give back the position in this case, before Turn 11. And we agreed before the race that they have to do it by themselves.”

Vasseur, however, didn’t want to be drawn on Hamilton’s suggestion that the team had “big problems,” heard on team radio after the red flag.

“Let me discuss with them," the Ferrari boss added. "I don't want to interpret what they said in the radio.”

So were there any positives to be drawn on a weekend when the SF-26 took pole and showed such good pace?

“The positive is that my frustration is coming from there,” said Vasseur. “We did a good step forward in terms of pure performance. Now it's the third or fourth race in a row that we are scoring more points than our competitors.

“We did a pole position. The pace was good enough to do one-two, and for sure it's more frustrating when you are in this situation than if you do a P15 and P16 in quali. For sure the frustration is there.

“But now the advantage is that we have another one in four days. We will discuss tonight, we will fix it tomorrow, and then we focus on Sao Paulo."

As Vasseur made clear, Ferrari does at least have a car capable of winning.

“Honestly, we are all in the ballpark,” he said. “If you have a look on all the sessions, one time it's Charles, one time it's Lewis, one time it's Max, one time it's Norris yesterday. It means that we are all there. It's much more linked to the track layout and engine sensitivity than just the package or the concept.

“But yeah, I think we are there with the others, and it will be another fight in Sao Paulo next week. It's good for the F1, good for the championship, this kind of situation when you have six, seven or eight guys who can win the race on the first season of the regulations.”