There was at least one moment during Frederic Vasseur's post-Mexican Grand Prix media briefing when the Ferrari team principal burst into laughter.

Motorsport Network journalist Ronald Vording had just asked him what felt like the umpteenth question about the evidently strained atmosphere following the first-lap clash between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

"It seems that no matter what you discuss beforehand, emotions will take over anyway", my colleague suggested.

Vasseur, sounding mildly exasperated, attempted to draw a line under the subject: "I won't comment anymore on this situation. Let me discuss with them. I said what I have to say."

Somehow, the conversation then drifted towards Ferrari junior Rafael Camara, who could make his Formula 1 debut before the end of the season following Esteban Ocon's dismissal at Haas, and Ryo Hirakawa, who will probably not be driving the Haas in Brazil next weekend, opting instead to pursue a World Endurance Championship title with Toyota.

The sheer absurdity of it all - of moving within moments from matters of potentially seismic importance to the rather more peripheral curiosities of Formula 1 - suddenly prompted what appeared to be a genuinely spontaneous burst of laughter from Vasseur.

"Guys, I have enough to do with my two drivers! Don't ask me about Hirakawa, Camara, Ocon's fight."

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Colin McMaster / LAT Images via Getty Images

It was one of the few moments of levity before a night in which the 58-year-old had so much to digest, and so much to sort out, that a particularly restful sleep seems rather unlikely.

There was no shortage of debate across international television broadcasts about who was responsible for Ferrari throwing away a potential one-two lead on the opening lap of the Mexican Grand Prix.

For my money, one of the most compelling contributions came from Karun Chandhok's analysis at the SkyPad on UK television. As far as Chandhok is concerned, the evidence is unequivocal: Leclerc probably never even attempted to make the braking point for Turn 4.

Other television pundits reached similar conclusions.

"At least one of them managed to make the corner. The other just went straight on", Ralf Schumacher observed on Sky Germany, before adding: "Leclerc had been the quicker man up to that point over the weekend - apart from qualifying - and was probably carrying a bit of frustration."

Alexander Wurz, speaking on Austria's ORF, argued that "Hamilton doesn't have to leave any room. I don't see much of a case for Leclerc here."

And former FIA race director Niels Wittich, appearing on Sky Germany, expected an even harsher punishment for the Monegasque before his five-second penalty was announced: "I'd say that's ten seconds. There are no mitigating circumstances you can invoke."

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images

Be that as it may, Vasseur now has another full-blown crisis on his hands.

When Hamilton radioed shortly before the race was red-flagged that there would be "big, big problems", and the seven-time world champion then marched into the garage, visibly seething and without even removing his helmet, it was abundantly clear that Ferrari's Mexican adventure was not going to end with everyone raising a harmonious glass of tequila.

Hamilton was furious. And what is remarkable is just how successfully he managed to maintain his composure in front of the television cameras afterwards.

Read between the lines, though, and a few remarks slipped through that, with a suitably mischievous dose of columnist's malice, might be interpreted as subtle little daggers aimed at Ferrari management.

"I think it was managed well at Mercedes, and I think Fred's doing his best", he said at one point.

Or this: "I don't really know what will be done, because up until now, nothing really has been done."

In the end, Mexico may prove to have been less a test of Hamilton's temper or Leclerc's judgement than of Vasseur's leadership. The hours and days following Mexico 2026 could prove to be a defining crossroads for Ferrari in its current constellation.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images

If Vasseur can defuse the escalating tensions between his drivers; if Leclerc turns up in Sao Paulo on Thursday suitably contrite and offers an apology that allows Hamilton's bruised ego to come to terms with a painful defeat; if, at the end of it all, Ferrari finally establishes the clear rules of engagement that Hamilton has been demanding for some time - then this confrontation might actually leave the Scuderia stronger than before.

But there is another scenario.

One in which Hamilton, away from the television cameras and behind closed doors, proves rather less adept at containing his anger. In which Leclerc refuses to acknowledge any wrongdoing. And in which Vasseur fails to reconcile his two superstars.

A scenario in which any attempt to establish internal ground rules ultimately collapses under the weight of precisely what Ronald Vording was getting at: that, no matter what has been agreed beforehand, emotions will always get the better of everyone anyway.

And then the whole powder keg could go up with one almighty bang.

Nor is this simply a matter of mediating an obvious disagreement. Ferrari must also ask itself some uncomfortable questions about the finer details of what happened.

Such as why Leclerc was left high and dry on the team radio immediately after the incident at Turns 4 and 5.

"I mean ... Got pushed off the track. What do I do now?", Leclerc asked, looking for guidance on whether he should immediately hand the position back.

But there was silence at the other end of the radio.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Yuri Cortez / AFP via Getty Images

Only after the opening lap had been completed did his race engineer finally come back to him: "Overtake enabled, Verstappen 0.8."

And then, a few seconds later: "No action yet. Keep pushing."

Yet the FIA had specifically sent a communication to the teams before the race warning them against failing to give positions back immediately in precisely this sort of situation.

Surely that was something Ferrari's team management ought to have been on top of, instructing Leclerc accordingly without delay.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are, quite evidently, engaged in a battle over who will lead this team in the years ahead.

For much of 2025, that question had already appeared to be settled in Leclerc's favour.

But writing off a champion of Hamilton's calibre is a dangerous business, even when all the available evidence seems to suggest that his days at the very pinnacle of his sport are already behind him.

If anyone knows how quickly a rivalry between two superstar team-mates can turn toxic, it is Toto Wolff. He has lived through the Hamilton-Rosberg years. Vasseur may be about to discover just how valuable that experience could be.

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal and General Manager, Scuderia Ferrari, Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, in the Press Conference

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

The Mercedes team principal and Vasseur, once the closest of friends, have not always seen eye to eye this year.

Yet on Sunday in Mexico, television cameras captured an intriguing little scene during the race itself: Wolff taking advantage of the interruption following Valtteri Bottas' crash to pay Vasseur a brief visit at the Ferrari pit wall.

What I wouldn't have given to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.

Perhaps Wolff, who enjoys a friendship with both Vasseur and Hamilton, was offering the Ferrari boss a few pointers on how best to deal with Hamilton's wrath. Unfortunately, it was a question nobody thought to ask either of them on Sunday evening in Mexico.

There are probably two ways of looking at Ferrari's predicament.

Vasseur's perspective, with its insistence on internal "respect", sounds like this: "They are not working for themselves. They are working for a group. They are working for a lot of sponsors. They are working for the 2,000 people of the company. That the guys when we had to push for the upgrades, they were working night and day. And we have to keep this in mind."

From Ferrari's point of view, the less confrontation, the better.

I, on the other hand, as a journalist in Formula 1 and, ultimately, someone who remains a fan of the sport, don't think a little confrontation is necessarily such a bad thing.

After all, what else would we have to argue about quite so passionately for days after a Grand Prix?