Ferrari head into this weekend's Sao Paulo Grand Prix still working through the fallout from a chaotic start in Mexico City, where a collision between the team's two drivers at the first corner reignited questions about internal tension and race strategy at Maranello.

The incident, which saw both Ferrari cars compromised in the opening laps, has become the dominant talking point as the Formula 1 paddock arrives in Brazil. With the constructors' championship fight still very much alive, any repeat of such a costly mistake could prove decisive in the closing stages of the season, and rivals will be watching closely to see how Ferrari manages the situation at Interlagos.

Team principals and senior figures at Ferrari are understood to have spent the days since Mexico City reviewing what went wrong, with the focus on communication between the drivers and the pit wall in the crucial seconds after lights out. Race starts have long been a point of vulnerability for the Scuderia, and a clash involving their own cars - rather than a rival - will only intensify scrutiny of how clear the team's instructions are when multiple cars are fighting for the same piece of track.

For the drivers themselves, the episode adds another layer of pressure heading into a circuit known for producing unpredictable results. Sao Paulo's Interlagos track, with its tight first sector and history of first-lap incidents, offers little margin for error, meaning Ferrari will be eager to avoid any repeat of the chaos that unfolded in Mexico.

Beyond the immediate on-track consequences, the Mexico City incident has reopened broader conversations about team orders and hierarchy within Ferrari's driver line-up. Teams in championship contention often face difficult decisions about prioritising one driver over another, and any perception of favouritism - or a lack of clear leadership - can quickly become a distraction if not addressed. How Ferrari's management chooses to communicate its approach ahead of Sao Paulo will be seen as a signal of how the team intends to handle the remainder of the season.

With the title race still in play and points at a premium, Ferrari cannot afford another self-inflicted setback. The Sao Paulo weekend will serve as an early test of whether the lessons from Mexico City have been learned, both in terms of race-start discipline and the broader internal dynamics that have come under the spotlight. All eyes will be on how the two Ferrari drivers, and their team, respond when the lights go out again.

Source: Sky Sports

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