Lewis Hamilton insists he needs to have “serious talks” with his Ferrari team after a costly clash with teammate Charles Leclerc at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Hamilton, starting on pole for the first time in red, defended well from Leclerc at the start before the Monegasque came surging alongside heading into turn four-five.

Leclerc failed to make the corner but took the lead while Hamilton lost second place to Max Verstappen after attempting to stay on the circuit. Leclerc was then given a five-second penalty which, ultimately, handed the win to Verstappen.

In the end, Leclerc finished fourth after losing out on the second restart while Hamilton came home to finish second but – while congratulating Kimi Antonelli on his world title – was notably upset in his post-race interviews.

Prior to the podium, Hamilton told Nico Rosberg: “A tough day. I think we had the pace to win but it wasn't meant to be – we’ll take it offline and wonder what we can do in the battle.

“In the drivers' briefing, we discussed it... as soon as you go off in turn one, you have to give it back. Last year, I got a 10-second [penalty]. Ultimately, that lost us the win today. We have to have some serious talks behind the scenes.

“But the team's worked really hard - good result, good points, shame we didn't get a win but some you win, some you lose.

“I'm hoping next year we have an engine to compete with them [Mercedes] – they were flying past us on the straights. I'm relying on the team, I have 100% faith in them.”

In the race, Hamilton said the team have “big, big problems” and, speaking later to Sky Sports F1, Hamilton insisted that Leclerc’s move was to the detriment of the team.

“In the race, I gave it everything. It was lost in first two corners. We could’ve easily finished first and second in this race.

“We didn’t sit down and talk before. Again, it’s all fair and well racing against your teammate as long as it’s not to the detriment to the team result. The team has to come first. Today, we lost the win, points, lost second in the team championship, it affects so many people. It impacts the people who put in all the hard work in and the tifosi, it’s not good.

“It definitely needs some discussion for sure. We’ll take it offline.”

Leclerc, however, insisted the gap was there to attack on track as he eyed a second victory of the season.

He said: “Turn 1-2 there was a gap… when fighting for a win, I’ll go for it. Turn four-five, we both didn’t make the corner.

“It was about giving the position back, but then Lewis got overtaken by Max and I thought it was worth it to try and see what happened. I asked on the radio; I kept my position.

“For sure, I’m sure Lewis hated those first few laps; we’ll discuss.”

Pointedly, in his own post-race interview, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur seemed to side with seven-time world champion Hamilton.

“It's about respect for the team,” he said. “Working night and day. It’s difficult to digest giving up a win like this; honestly, today I'm a bit down.

“The comments of Lewis we'll discuss with Lewis, comments of Charles we'll discuss with Charles. What I see is the result. We were one-two in Mexico, and you lose the race. We were able to do it.”

Hamilton remains in third in the world championship but now sits behind Verstappen, who occupies second place.