Fans Left Speechless as Lewis Hamilton Furiously Claims Charles Leclerc’s “Mentality” Is Nothing—or…
Fans Left Speechless as Lewis Hamilton Furiously Claims Charles Leclerc’s “Mentality” Is Nothing—or it’s all
Convinced that his Ferrari SF-26 had what it took to win the Mexican Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton deplored the “mentality” of his teammate Charles Leclerc during the post-race press conference.
Having finished second in the Mexican Grand Prix behind Max Verstappen , Lewis Hamilton preferred first, upon exiting his car , to greet Kimi Antonelli, his successor at Mercedes , who this Sunday became the youngest world champion in the history of Formula 1.
“We easily had a car capable of a one-two finish today. I’d rather talk about Kimi, who has just become the youngest world champion in history! I don’t have much to say about our battle with Charles; we saw what happened and why we lost the victory. Apart from that, it was a real honor to be on the podium with Kimi and Max, three world champions together; it was a really great moment.”
Pressed by journalists at a press conference, the Briton referred to what he believes is a problem of “mentality” rather than youth in Charles Leclerc . This uncompromising attitude is nothing new for Lewis Hamilton, who was a privileged spectator of some of the fierce battles between Leclerc and Carlos Sainz from 2021 to 2024.
“Before joining this team, when I was at Mercedes, I observed and witnessed several duels between Charles and Carlos in different races, where they fought so hard that the one in front ended up pulling away, even though they had the pace to win. But it’s one thing when it happens in fourth and fifth places, and another when it happens in first and second places, and you lose the victory. That’s significant.”
The seven-time world champion used the example of the British Grand Prix, won by Charles Leclerc, to highlight what he believes the future mentality should be within Scuderia Ferrari . Finishing third that day, Hamilton felt he prioritized teamwork over his own performance.
“This guy is 28, so I don’t think it’s about age. I think it’s about mentality. It’s like, ‘It’s all or nothing. Either I win, or neither of us wins,’ and it shouldn’t be like that. We should be aiming for that one-two finish. Like I said, it’s still a good feeling. You know, at Silverstone, I could have gone for a kamikaze move to overtake him and cost us the win, but instead, we both finished on the podium. For my part, I’m happy the team experienced that, but I hope that in the future, we’ll work to create a more relaxed environment, a better working environment.
