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"I'm really p****d," admits Hamilton

NEWS STORY
02/11/2026

Lewis Hamilton is critical of teammate Charles Leclerc, blaming the Monegasque for Ferrari missing out on a potential 1-2.

Having made his feelings quite clear throughout the race, and in the moments after crossing the line, following the joyful celebrations of Kimi Antonelli's title win, the seven-time world champion opened up as he reflected on what might have been.

"In the drivers' briefing, we discussed that as soon as you go off in Turn 1, you have to give the position back," he explained. "But obviously, last year I got a ten-second penalty for that same move that he did.

"Ultimately, it was that that lost us the win today," he added, "I think we have to have some serious talks behind the scenes, for sure.

"I had a good start, and I think we had the car to win today," he continued. "Unfortunately, we had the car to easily have first and second, but due to the first two corners, that kind of went away. After that, we just gave it basically to Max, and all they had to do was just stay ahead of us, which he did a good job of doing."

Asked how Leclerc compares to previous teammates, Hamilton said: "I think the core thing to remember, which maybe comes with age, is that every decision you make in the car impacts all the people that work in the background for the whole team. So, working as a team is a part of our job and a part of our contract. We have to work as a team, which we could have easily done today. So, it's a shame to see us lose this, as we did.

"That will just continue unless action is taken, a real deep, serious conversation is had," he warned. "So, it shouldn't happen moving forward.

"Of course, I've had close battles with teammates in the past, and you can't always get it right, but nine times out of ten we should be able to. So, I think we'll take it offline and we'll have some good conversations, hopefully. For sure, it won't be easy, but it must be done."

Asked how surprised he was by Leclerc's failure to hand back the place, he replied: "How surprised was I? At that point, it didn't even matter. We had let Max past, and the race was done from there.

"I don't know what needs to happen now," he admitted, "how we discuss things when we go back. I'm not quite sure how I want to engage in that.

"Of course, the frustrations are today. I'm happy because this guy just won the championship, so I'm really torn because, on one side, I'm happy, and on the other side, I'm really p***ed.

"We lost valuable points, and we, as a team, worked so hard. We could have easily had a one-two today. Really, we had the pace to do so. We're going into Turn 4 first and second. If we just hold position, I think anything can happen in the race. But when your teammate works against you and then you lose positions like that, it's definitely tough.

"We'll just talk about it offline, and it's not really worth saying too much more. We don't have rules of engagement, and whether or not that will change anything from Charles' side, I don't know. We've just got to figure it out, but something needs to change for sure.

"Before I joined this team, when I was at Mercedes, I watched and witnessed the back and forth between Charles and Carlos at several races, where they were battling so much that the person ahead just pulled away, and they had the pace to actually win.

"But it is one thing when that's happening in fourth and fifth, as opposed to first and second, and you lose the win," he insisted. "That's significant.

"The guy is 28 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', and it shouldn't be that. It should be us having, getting that one-two.

"As I said, it's still a good feeling. You know, Silverstone, I could have gone all kamikaze on him and taken him off and lost us the win, but instead the one-two was there. I think we got the one-two. Was it one-three, first and third, one-two? Whatever. For me, I'm happy for the team to have experienced that, but I'm hopeful we'll work towards a better place, a better working place, in the future."

However, it wasn't only his teammate that Hamilton was unhappy with, he was also critical of the track, particularly with the 2026 regulations.

"You can't overtake here," he said. "I think it's something the FIA need to do, and it's just quite bad. I'm sure these guys would agree. We have this clip at the end of the straight where you can't go past a certain speed, so everyone just follows. It's the silliest thing when you are behind and you have a little bit more power in the slipstream. You should be able to go past that to have a chance to overtake. The engine can go faster. It's just they have these silly clips. I mean, it's the worst engine profile setting that I think they've probably ever had in this sport, and it doesn't provide great racing. So today you probably didn't see much overtaking, unfortunately, because of that. Obviously, the starts were fun, but it's a very hard track to follow with the thin air and low downforce. I gave it everything to try and get close to Max, but maybe they needed... I don't know if they need to change the last corner because it's so quick. I don't know. There could be a change to the track, maybe, to enable us to have a little bit better racing. But everyone having this this year just diminishes any opportunity of that."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Mexico City here.

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READERS COMMENTS

 

1. Posted by ffracer, 4 hours ago

"@ Celtic Tiger- I am surprised that he did it again, taking out Hamilton on the first lap, so soon after Monza too. That was a very expensive 'thwack' he had...

@flyinglap - completely agree, agents are like suppliers in any industry having long-term relationships with new management. A great chance to lock in a long-term contract. Kickbacks are negligible, in the grand scheme of things. As long as it flies under the radar and there are good results so everyone wins. The problem is that Leclerc is shining floodlamps, exposing it all... not good if Elkan has to do something about it..."

Rating: Positive (1)     Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by flyinglap, 5 hours ago

"The real issue at Ferrari F1 is that it is actually run by the… French and by their clique of deeply embedded people throughout the team. Leclerc is managed by Nicolas Todt (son of Jean and former business partner of Vasseur in ART Racing). Leclerc is a money-making machine for his “handlers”,and therefore they are happy to maintain the status quo for as long as possible, regardless of Ferrari winning races and championships or not. Leclerc is fast, but prone to expensive mistakes, and he has failed to deliver over so many years. The lot of them should have been kicked out of Ferrari a long time ago. Unfortunately for Hamilton (who used to race for Vasseur some 10 years before Leclerc, and possibly trusts him more than he should for his own good), he is managed by his own self. And, chairman and controlling shareholder John Elkann is occupied with more important things on a far grander scale (Exor, Stellantis etc), while CEO Vigna comes from a non-automotive background and he knows even less about motorsport. Without a radical change at the top and behind the curtain, things will continue being more or less the same. Only hope is, Elkann will finally step in, let Vasseur go, and maybe bring Horner in. Or, if not… Guenther Steiner. That would be fun to watch :)"

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3. Posted by Celtic Tiger, 6 hours ago

"Yeah I'd be pissed too. Especially if this has been talked about in depth as the radio message of Hamilton eludes to. When Hamilton got pole, like most, I was side-eyeing their strategy team but then comes Leclerc. I thought in Monza he would get a much needed dressing down on his sabotage behavior. Apparently not, really, someone needs to smack him upside the head and remind him what team he's on.
At least the Italians have something to be happy about with an Italian WDC, so in a way Ferrari have been spared from the public to a degree. Ferrari should send Kimi a fruit basket "Congratulations on your title and thanks for the distraction.""

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4. Posted by Wokingchap, 8 hours ago

"Agree with all comments here. I too was a semi leclerc fan liking his very pleasant attitude and driving skill, but he's turned into a blxxdy nuisance and loosing his massive popularity..... shame really."

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5. Posted by Motorsport-fan, 9 hours ago

"This is weak team management, surely not at Ferrari?"

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6. Posted by ffracer, 9 hours ago

"@Burton - absolutely

@Spindoctor - agree with your comments. In truth, I was a fan of CL fan as well, my kids drive the CL Birel AM29s in karting lol. Monza 2026 where he drove Lewis into the marbles and then, a few corners later, veered off into the wall. This behavior isn't normal and he's been getting away with it for far too long. Hopefully, Fred Vasseur (and John Elkan?) can get through to him on how his erratic behavior is costing the team exponentially. "

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7. Posted by marina170, 11 hours ago

"Not sure why Hamilton's annoyed, he had all 4 wheels off the circuit at turn 2 as well."

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8. Posted by Spindoctor, 11 hours ago

"I had previously been quite a fan of Leclerc, but his behaviour this season has been lamentable. Today's performance was probably the worst this season. Normally in a tight start between Lewis & Max, I expect Max to do the aggressive\silly\dangerous\brilliant (delete as applicable) move.
Unfortunately Charles isn't as talented as either Max nor Lewis & so merely looked like a total wally, ruining Ferrari's chances of a great result. as well as his own of getting on the podium.
The contrast between Kimi, who at 20 has driven like the champion he is: using his brain as well as his amazing talent, and Leclerc's ego-driven arrogance is startling.



"

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9. Posted by Burton, 11 hours ago

"I thought it was 50/50 since Hamilton also went a bit off, but the onboard cameras from both drivers are very clear; Leclerc was never making the corner and in fact made no effort to do so."

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10. Posted by ffracer, 13 hours ago

"Amen, Lewis. Everything you said is correct. Charles Leclerc has done this before to his teammates... and worse than what we witnessed in Mexico yesterday.

His years partnered with Sebastian Vettel, the consummate champion, was absolutely gut wrenching to watch, strategists were jumping out of the windows. What was worse, Team Principal Mattia Binotto didn't handle it well at all and Vettel moved to Aston Martin. Sebastian Vettel lost the World Championship because of it. Charles is not a team player, his ego won't allow it. Lewis said what other teammates couldn't: if Charles can't win, then no one at Ferrari will.

Ironically, in Montreal, he surprised the family of the late great Gilles Villeneuve, with a special liveries Bell helmet in the likeness of the iconic Villeneuve livery but none of Gilles timestamped corporate partners , all in a tasteless present day team liveried overkill. I felt insulted and the family, put on the spot and not wanting a scandal, relented like amazing Canadians. Years before, Kimi Raikonnen wore a helmet in the likeness of the the legendary James Hunt and it was period correct. And a thoughtful tribute. Leclerc wore the Villeneuve liveried helmet and drove the iconic no 12 Ferrari 312 T4 but he will never understand the spirit of true teammates and sacrifice like Gilles Villeneuve did.
"

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