Rosberg: ‘It's always Charles' fault, isn't it?’

Nico Rosberg has delivered a decidedly uncomfortable verdict on Ferrari's latest intra-team flashpoint, pointing the finger squarely at Charles Leclerc after his opening-lap confrontation with Lewis Hamilton in Mexico City and suggesting the Monegasque is developing an increasingly familiar habit of getting things wrong.

The 2016 F1 world champion believes Ferrari can no longer afford to let its drivers settle their differences at 200mph, urging team principal Fred Vasseur to impose some much-needed rules of engagement before the situation deteriorates further.

For Rosberg, however, there was little ambiguity over who crossed the line in Sunday's encounter.

Having watched Hamilton and Leclerc engage in an increasingly aggressive fight for the lead through the opening corners at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the former Mercedes driver felt the Monegasque was once again responsible for the fireworks.

Rosberg takes aim at Leclerc's recurring transgressions

The flashpoint began almost immediately after the lights went out. Hamilton and Leclerc went wheel-to-wheel through the opening sequence, with the Ferrari pair refusing to give an inch.

Leclerc ultimately cut the chicane to emerge ahead, while Hamilton ran wide at Turn 4 and subsequently lost ground to Max Verstappen.

Hamilton was left fuming after the race, believing his team-mate had compromised Ferrari's chances of securing a one-two finish. His call for "serious talks" reflected growing frustration with a situation he fears will repeat itself unless Ferrari establishes clearer boundaries.

Rosberg, who knows better than most the combustible nature of an intra-team rivalry after spending four seasons alongside Hamilton at Mercedes, was particularly unimpressed with Leclerc's conduct.

“Interestingly, it’s always Charles’ fault, isn’t it? It’s never Lewis’s fault. In the last couple of times, in Monza it was Charles, here it was Charles,” he told Sky Sports F1.

Rosberg was referring to what he sees as a recurring pattern in Leclerc's wheel-to-wheel encounters with Hamilton, arguing that Ferrari's management can no longer afford to turn a blind eye.

Vasseur must stop letting his drivers sort it out

The German's message to Vasseur was blunt: establish clear rules or prepare for more on-track confrontations.

“Really Fred Vasseur, he needs to start to act,” Rosberg added.

“Once again, as Lewis said before the race, there was no discussion. Like clear racing guidelines between the two. It needs to happen, otherwise it’s going to keep going like this.

“It gets really bad when the drivers take it in their own hands and disregard whatever has been discussed and just take it in their own hands and sort it out on track and barge the other guy out the way.

“That can very quickly happen and it’s already kind of happening.

“On the first wheel-to-wheel that they had at Turns 2 and 3, Charles was bouncing over the kerb into Lewis, he was not holding the line. So already that was too much from Charles.”

Coming from someone who knows precisely how quickly a Mercedes team-mate relationship can descend into open warfare, Rosberg's warning carries particular weight.

Ferrari now faces an uncomfortable choice. It can allow Hamilton and Leclerc to continue their increasingly edgy exchanges, or Vasseur can finally make clear that the team's interests must come before individual ambitions.

With Hamilton already demanding answers and Rosberg questioning Leclerc's repeated involvement in these incidents, the Scuderia's internal peace is looking decidedly fragile.

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