“WHEN YOU’RE ONE-TWO YOU DON’T IMAGINE YOU WILL LOSE, AND WE DID” – VASSEUR

Ferrari locked out the front row in Mexico and still lost. Team principal Fred Vasseur didn't mince words: "When you are one-two, you don't imagine that you can lose the race. And we were able to do it."

The collapse started at turn four, lap one. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton — running side-by-side — both went off track. Leclerc came out ahead but collected a time penalty for leaving the circuit while passing. Max Verstappen slotted into second, then took the win.

Hamilton blamed Leclerc's over-aggressive opening lap. Leclerc countered that yielding would've handed Verstappen the position anyway. Vasseur wasn't interested in the debate, only the outcome.

"It's a matter of respect," he said. "For the brand, for the sponsors, for 2,000 people working like hell at home." Ferrari's upgrades delivered the pace. The drivers delivered chaos. With the constructors' title in play, Vasseur can't afford another implosion.