Brundle warns Leclerc's 'silly' Mexico move handed Hamilton leverage inside Ferrari

Martin Brundle arrived at Interlagos on Thursday with a blunt verdict on the Lap 1 collision that overshadowed Ferrari’s Mexican Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc’s decision to hold his line across the grass at Turn 4, forcing Lewis Hamilton wide and earning a five-second penalty, was, in the veteran broadcaster’s words, simply not smart.

“The big story was it gave Max Verstappen the victory,” Brundle said. “It wasn’t the smartest move in Charles’s career. That was a 75-25 move against your team-mate.”

The penalty itself, Brundle argued, did little to address the sporting damage. Hamilton made that point himself over team radio during the race, noting that cutting corners and emerging in front was worth far more than a five-second sanction. Brundle highlighted the comment as evidence of a deliberate strategy rather than an emotional outburst.

“He said on the radio that the stewards had given Charles the win with the five-second penalty, and it was definitely worth cutting a few corners and getting out in front — you will make more than five seconds,” Brundle recalled.

While former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher criticised Hamilton for airing the team’s grievances publicly, Brundle takes the opposite view. He sees a seven-time world champion who has nothing left to prove to a PR department and every reason to apply pressure on both race control and Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur.

“Lewis is at a stage of his career where he will be unfiltered,” Brundle explained. By calling out the penalty’s inadequacy on the radio, Hamilton simultaneously flagged a flaw in the stewarding process and placed Vasseur in an uncomfortable position — forced to manage the fallout from a collision his own driver caused.

“Lewis has realised here’s a chance to actually make a bit of ground on this because that was a bit silly,” Brundle concluded.

The comments set a charged backdrop for the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend at Interlagos, where both Ferrari drivers will need to co-exist cleanly if the Scuderia is to salvage anything from what has become an increasingly fractious internal dynamic.