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Lewis Hamilton was involved in a frosty exchange with his engineer after crashing his Ferrari into the barriers during the final practice session of the Madrid Grand Prix on Saturday.
The 'car-killing' Madring claimed another victim when Hamilton - who was on course to set the fastest time of the session - veered off track and into the barriers ahead of qualifying.
The collision caused major damage to the front wing of the car, with seven-time world champion Hamilton told to leave the car and allow for a recovery vehicle to return it to the garage.
However, the 41-year-old defied orders from his engineer and reversed out of the barriers before making his way onto the track, seemingly eager to return the car himself.
He was repeatedly told to 'stop the car' but ploughed on with a tyre puncture, before eventually limping to a halt.
The British driver has been at the centre of tension behind the scenes at La Scuderia, with last weekend's Italian Grand Prix seeing an explosive clash with team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton was squeezed off the track by Leclerc, clearly the Monegasque's error, in the second half of the first chicane in early exchanges of positions last Sunday. 'Charles pushed me off,' the seven-time world champion complained at the time.
Lewis Hamilton crashed his Ferrari and defied team orders in Madrid on Saturday
Leclerc crashed out moments later at the Parabolica in an unrelated event, again his mistake, and it was a big bang. Hamilton went on to finish sixth – a combination of failure that amounted to a poor result for Ferrari on home turf.
In a message to team principal Fred Vasseur, the seven-time world champion said: ‘Here there are no rules. And that’s something that needs to change. When I was at Mercedes we had written rules of engagement. And we never had it too bad.
‘There was a moment with me and Nico a couple of times. But more often than not, it was good. Here there are no rules.
But speaking ahead of the new home of the Spanish Grand Prix, Hamilton revealed he held crunch talks with his team-mate: 'What is great is that there was no shying away from having a discussion. We sat face to face, just him (Charles) and me, and talked about it and we were both honest and open and then we quashed it and moved on.
'That shows maturity from him and it is healthy. It is a relationship we have built over time.
'Of course, there are going to be frustrations along the way. And there will be more times where we are close because we are approximate in pace and we both want to win as much as each other and do well for the team, but, yes, it is really positive.
'It has been really positive. I spoke to Fred (Vasseur, Ferrari's team principal) on Monday and we had clearing out discussions.
'Naturally we are going to have different opinions, but we come together to find a way forward and that is the positive of where we have got to over the past 15 months, when we can have really great communication internally and same with me and Charles.
'If you look at the history of the sport, this happened before, so it is no biggie.'
Hamilton was ordered to stop the car but refused, despite extensive damage to his front wing
Hamilton spoke after the race in Italy about needing rules of engagement. Have they been agreed?
'No,' he said. 'Right now I am trying to focus on having a better weekend. I am sure at some stage we will discuss how we can be better but we have not had a lot of time. You can't change things in two days.'
Hamilton's deficit to Mercedes' championship leader Kimi Antonelli stands at 76 points. It is a vertical fight for the Briton. Tough, but the target is not insurmountable.
Chasing a never-achieved eighth title, Hamilton said: 'Mathematically it is not impossible, but it is the biggest gap I have seen in a long, long time, and at this stage of the year, too (with 10 rounds remaining).
'Mercedes are the leaders, out ahead, and doing a fantastic job and we should just focus on doing our best each weekend.
'My job at Ferrari is a long-term process and not something that will change this weekend. There are a huge amount of moving parts, a lot of people, and a culture that has been there for a long time. Moving pieces are not so easy. It doesn't happen overnight. But we will get there.'
