Brundle: Ferrari's Internal Squabbling Cost Them a Mexico City One-Two

Martin Brundle believes Ferrari threw away a one-two finish at the Mexico City Grand Prix because Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc spent too much of the afternoon fighting each other instead of managing the race. The pair swapped positions more than once around the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, and Brundle argued the lap time lost in those exchanges was precisely what dragged their rivals back into contention.

Why it matters:

Ferrari's season has been built around Hamilton arriving alongside Leclerc, and Maranello has been firm that both men are free to race. That policy looks principled when the car is quickest. It looks costly when a one-two is on the table and the two scarlet cars are trading tenths, burning through tyre life and forcing the pit wall into reactive calls rather than controlling the race from the front.

The details:

• Brundle, working for Sky Sports, framed the intra-team battle as the difference between a Ferrari one-two and the result the team actually left Mexico with.
• Both drivers raced cleanly, but the repeated attacks and defences kept them in dirty air, hurting cooling and tyre temperatures at a circuit where overheating is already a genuine concern.
• Ferrari's strategists were left guessing on stop timing while the drivers settled their own argument on track.
• Neither Hamilton nor Leclerc showed any appetite for backing off, which is exactly the dilemma team principals dread when two champions share a garage.

What's next:

The debate over rules of engagement will follow Ferrari into the final stretch of the season. Frédéric Vasseur has consistently resisted imposing hard team orders, and the drivers' relationship remains workable, but a title fight sharpens every decision. Expect clearer pre-race protocols and a longer conversation behind closed doors at Maranello before the next round.