Vasseur issues reminder to Hamilton and Leclerc in post-Mexico Ferrari talks

Ferrari F1 chief Fred Vasseur insists he has cleared the air with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton after their highly publicised Mexican Grand Prix clash last week.

At the Mexico City event, Hamilton and Leclerc both went off track on lap one as they fought for the lead, with Hamilton losing a position to Max Verstappen instead, while Leclerc was penalised and eventually also ceded the lead to the Red Bull driver.

Verstappen went on to win the race with Hamilton second and Leclerc off the podium in fourth, with the sabre-rattling on lap one robbing the team of a possible third win of the campaign. Hamilton was particularly furious about how Leclerc had raced him at the start, lobbying for the stewards to hand his team-mate a bigger penalty for cutting the track.

The seven-time world champion demanded serious talks with Leclerc and Vasseur over how hard his team-mate was racing him, while Vasseur was frustrated with what he felt was a lack of respect towards Maranello's 2,000-strong staff trying to provide both drivers with a winning car.

Those talks have since happened on Thursday night in Sao Paulo, and speaking to the media for the first time since last weekend, Vasseur was adamant the message to both of his drivers was loud and clear. Ferrari must always come first.

"The guidelines are always the same. They are two competitors with a fighting spirit for sure, but they need to have respect for each other," Vasseur said. "But mainly and firstly, they need to respect the brand, the team, the people working at home, the people working on track. I think we are putting a lot of effort on this and the message was clear and will stay clear."

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images

On Thursday Hamilton said he agreed with suggestions that Leclerc was racing him harder than he raced other drivers, his team boss pointed towards Leclerc's aggressive overtake on Verstappen in Austin to downplay those claims.

"He said that he was fighting probably a bit harder with him than with some others, but if you have a look at what Charles did in Austin in the first sector, everybody said that it was magic," Vasseur said. "The line is fine between the two. But he didn't crash into the other car."

The Frenchman added: "For sure, in this situation, we failed collectively because we were one and two and we didn't win the race at the end. That means that it's clear that we failed and we have to react.

"But the conclusion of the meeting yesterday evening was clear that it was a clear reminder that the Ferrari is coming first, is coming first for the brand, for the employees, for the Tifosi, and this we have to keep it in mind."