The 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix had the potential to be great for Ferrari. Only it wasn’t.
Lewis Hamilton started in pole position and Charles Leclerc was on the second row. By the time the lights went out and the grid barreled down to Turn 1, they were running first and second — the best-case scenario from a team perspective.
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez is notoriously a difficult place to overtake, with only a few spots on the layout, such as Turns 1-4 and Turn 13. Bar any chaos, the running order tends to stay similar once the first few laps settle, so Sunday had all the ingredients for a third Ferrari win of the season. All Hamilton and Leclerc needed to do was maintain their positions.
True to racer form, however, Leclerc made a move on Hamilton at Turn 4, trying for the lead. But doing that threw what could have been a sure-fire victory into a near-impossibility.
The Mexico City GP is the most recent moment this season where Ferrari got close to victory, only for a small moment or mishap to run their chances. Yesterday, an ill-timed overtake attempt led to a near-collision, a penalty, plenty of frustration and only one red race suit on the podium.
The big question facing the team is: where does Ferrari go from here? Perhaps to finally creating written rules of engagement for its drivers?
For Ferrari to carry momentum from practice to qualifying has been rare this season. Mexico marked the team’s first pole of the season, but the big question was whether that could carry over into race pace, which team principal Fred Vasseur Saturday described to F1 TV as “OK.”
“The most important (thing) is to be in front at Turn 1 and to have clean air — this will be key for the race and result,” he added.
Those are two of the key components to winning at this track. The other being to avoid trouble.
The running order at the Mexico City Grand Prix tends to stay similar once the first few laps settle. (Clive Rose / Getty Images)
Hamilton maintained the lead at the start, with George Russell, Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli just behind him in those first few meters. The cars fell into a single file, catching a slipstream as they barreled down to Turn 1. Leclerc quickly made a move to jump to the left side of Russell and passed the Mercedes.
Meanwhile, Hamilton stayed in front going through Turn 1, though Leclerc’s front wheel was at his rear wheel. The teammates went side-by-side into Turn 2, and the Englishman held the narrow lead into the next corner. Leclerc hung on, though, and waited for his moment.
Heading into Turns 4 and 5, Leclerc went around the outside of his teammate, and both braked quite late. Leclerc had to go through the grass and Hamilton ran wide. Max Verstappen passed Hamilton, and soon it was Leclerc in the lead and his teammate third.
THIS MOMENT! Here is the first lap move from Leclerc on Hamilton, which is currently under investigation #F1 #MexicoGP https://t.co/IX0YtniiKo
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 1, 2026
The stewards reviewed the incident and penalized Leclerc, handing him a five-second time penalty, which he served during his pit stop. According to the stewards, both Ferrari drivers “entered Turn 4 with excessive speed”, which was evident in how neither of them made the corner. But the 29-year-old Monégasque was punished for completing the overtake while off-track.
There is a key point of contention relating to the stewards’ decision — Leclerc wasn’t dealt the baseline penalty. The usual amount is 10 seconds, but there were mitigating factors in this situation — that Hamilton was also off-track and this incident happened on the first lap. The seven-time world champion, however, wasn’t thrilled his teammate only got five seconds.
“The problem with a five-second penalty is that he’s got clean air,” Hamilton said to his race engineer, Carlo Santi, over the radio. “He doesn’t have to manage like the rest of us. Should just give the positions back.”
That sentiment carried on into the media sessions afterwards.
“In the drivers’ briefing, we discussed that as soon as you go off in Turn 1, you have to give the position back,” Hamilton told former teammate Nico Rosberg during his post-race track interview. “But, obviously, last year I got a 10-second penalty for that same move he did. Ultimately, it was that that lost us the win today, and, yeah, we have to have some serious talks behind the scenes, for sure.”
Lewis Hamilton said he had mixed emotions after the Mexico City Grand Prix. (Yuri Cortez / AFP via Getty Images)
Hamilton felt Ferrari had a car capable of winning on Sunday, but given the scrap with Leclerc, they “just gave” the victory to Red Bull’s Verstappen. “All they had to do was just stay ahead of us, which he did a good job of doing,” he said.
The 41-year-old ultimately finished second, behind Verstappen, while Leclerc finished fourth. It was enough for Hamilton to overtake Russell in the drivers’ standings, but he’s now behind Verstappen, a two-point gap separating them in second and third.
While Mexico City didn’t impact the constructors’ standings greatly — Ferrari in second is over 100 points ahead of third-placed Red Bull — Vasseur was frustrated and essentially scolded both drivers in his post-race interviews.
“They are not working for themselves,” the Frenchman said. “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 (team staff), when we had to push for the upgrades, they were working night and day — and we have to keep this in mind.”
There have been multiple times across the season where there has been tension between Hamilton and Leclerc, such as during the Dutch and Italian GPs. They’ve had close battles, and have been free to race. But it’s a matter of knowing where the line is.
After a messy first-lap battle at Monza in September, when Leclerc shoved his teammate into a gravel trap and Hamilton lost six places, the Brit wanted written rules of engagement between them, just as there had been in place during his time at Mercedes, and on Sunday he called for action again.
“A part of our job, and a part of our contract, is we have to work as a team, which we could have easily done today,” Hamilton said after the race. “It’s a shame to see us lose as we did, and it will continue unless action is taken and a real deep serious conversation is had.”
In the FIA news conference, Hamilton said he was happy for newly-crowned champion Antonelli, the 20-year-old who took over his seat at Mercedes when he left for Ferrari ahead of last season, and “p—ed” because of what happened during the race.
“We could have easily had a one-two today,” Hamilton said. “Really, we had the pace to do so. We’re going into Turn 4 first and second. If we just hold position, anything can happen in the race. But when your teammate works against you and then you lose positions like that, it’s definitely tough.”
During the news conference, Hamilton said four times that they’d discuss the matter further “offline”. He said he remembered watching Leclerc and previous Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz battle, how whoever was ahead would pull away. But, he noted, it was one thing duelling down in fourth or fifth, and another matter entirely when competing for the top two positions in a race.
“The guy is 28 years old, so I don’t think it’s an age thing,” he continued. “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.”
What Hamilton hopes is that Ferrari can work towards “a better working place.”
Vasseur said discussions would take place. But it’s a short turnaround before the next race, at Brazil’s Interlagos on Sunday.
It’s clear something needs to change at Ferrari. Being free to race comes at a price.
