Leclerc spells out why he saw 'no point' in fighting Hamilton at Brazil GP

Charles Leclerc has explained why he chose not to fight Lewis Hamilton during the early stages of the Brazilian Grand Prix, admitting that his Ferrari teammate was significantly faster as the Italian team endured a difficult weekend.

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The two drivers found themselves battling for position in the opening stages of the race at Interlagos, but Leclerc opted against putting up a prolonged defence, acknowledging that Hamilton simply had more pace at that point.

"Lewis was much faster than me. At that time, there was no point for me to fight," Leclerc explained after the race.

The admission comes just a week after tensions emerged within Ferrari during the Mexican Grand Prix weekend, prompting team principal Fred Vasseur to arrange a private meeting between the two drivers.

Hamilton confirmed after the race that Vasseur initially attended the discussion before leaving the drivers to address their differences directly, describing the conversation as open and positive.

Photo: Race Pictures

Photo: Race Pictures

Despite the apparent improvement in the atmosphere between the teammates, Ferrari's performance on track remained a concern throughout the Brazilian weekend.

Leclerc struggled particularly during the opening stint of the Grand Prix, with rear tyre problems preventing him from maintaining a competitive pace. Although his performance improved towards the end, the Monegasque admitted that the recovery came too late.

"Poor race. Just very slow in the first stint, struggling a lot with the rear tyres, and then, towards the end, it was a little bit better, but too late."

The difficulties were not limited to Leclerc. Hamilton also experienced significant rear tyre degradation after a promising start, while a late spin in the rain further complicated his afternoon.

Leclerc acknowledged that Ferrari still has considerable work to do in understanding its performance in wet conditions, despite making some progress with its qualifying setup.

"We've never been so strong in those conditions. And yesterday, I think we understood something in terms of where we need to run the car on the wet for qualifying. But in the race, I think there are still plenty we need to understand."

Looking ahead, the Ferrari driver warned that the team could face another challenging weekend in Las Vegas, where low temperatures may expose similar weaknesses.

"We first need to analyse this performance, which has been a poor one, and then we'll look at Vegas, which I think might be a difficult one for us with the cold temperatures. Let's see."

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