Ferrari, Hamilton-Leclerc summit at Interlagos: Vasseur tries to mend fences

At Interlagos, the Hamilton-Leclerc case reaches the point of confrontation. Today in the Sao Paulo paddock, Frederic Vasseur will see Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to address what happened in the Mexican Grand Prix, where the contact between the two weighed on Ferrari's race. The meeting had been put back because the team principal had returned to Europe and Leclerc had left Brazil to be with his family after the birth of his daughter Bianca, who was born in Monaco on Tuesday 3 November.

Hamilton confirmed that there had still not been a direct confrontation on the eve of the weekend. Speaking to FormulaPassion, he said: «We won't solve everything, but it is an important meeting». The Briton made clear the meaning of the summit: not to wipe out the tensions with one blow, but to put things in order after a Sunday that left its marks in the Ferrari pits.

Ferrari arrives in Brazil with an SF-26 that in the last few Grands Prix has rediscovered some of the answers that had been missing for much of the season. Just when the car returned to being competitive, a delicate issue emerged in the internal management between the two drivers, made clear by the opening corners in Mexico City. Hamilton has not backed down from his position even in front of the media at Interlagos.

The issue in the pits

According to the Gazzetta, Vasseur wants to keep the weekend free of further friction and has laid down the key line of the moment: «At Interlagos, no distractions». The team principal is being asked to restore balances that the contact in Mexico has made more fragile, at a stage of the season in which Ferrari is once again able to fight at the front.

The picture is made even heavier by the fact that, after the GP in Mexico, the confrontation between the two drivers had still not taken place. Also according to Motorsport.com, Vasseur spoke separately with Hamilton and Leclerc and considered what happened a lack of respect towards the 2,000 people who work at Ferrari.

For Hamilton, the Brazilian weekend also has a special value: at Interlagos he tackles his 400th Formula 1 Grand Prix, at the circuit where in 2008 he won his first world title. At Ferrari, however, the issue remains another one: bringing the dialogue back within clear boundaries, before the internal battle weighs on the team's work again.