Why Ferrari opted against using Lewis Hamilton to tow Charles Leclerc in F1 Italian GP qualifying

Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton explained that the possibility of the Monegasque being given a tow during qualifying for the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix was not seriously discussed.

Leclerc will line up fourth on the grid for Sunday’s race at Monza, after a narrow qualifying session which saw him miss out on pole position by two tenths.

The partisan tifosi were sent into a frenzy when Leclerc crossed the line late in the session to take provisional pole, but was ultimately defeated by both McLarens and Max Verstappen.

Hamilton qualified in fifth place but will start 10th after his five-place grid penalty incurred at last week’s Dutch Grand Prix.

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During Thursday’s pre-race press conference, Hamilton suggested that he would be open to giving Leclerc a tow under the right circumstances, to help him maximise his chances.

But when asked if the idea had been broached in any team meetings prior to the weekend, Leclerc told media including Motorsport Week: “Yeah. It wasn’t decided that way.”

When pushed further if it had been discussed directly, Leclerc replied: “Not really, no.”

When Hamilton conveyed his openness to the tow on Thursday, he did explain that it was something he had never done as a McLaren or Mercedes driver, but did reveal it had previously been standard practice at Ferrari.

But when the same question was put to him after Q3, Hamilton reiterated his previous stance of having never done it before.

“No. It’s not something I ever did in any of my other teams,” he told media including Motorsport Week.

“Ultimately, potentially end up sacrificing one of the drivers, and I’ve already got a five-place penalty, so points-wise I needed to be as high as I could.”

Hamilton ‘happy with progress’ of Ferrari

Hamilton has been largely downcast across the season due to his difficulties adapting to the SF-25, and has failed to score no higher than fourth in a Grand Prix so far.

But Hamilton appeared far more positive and cheerful about the progress made with the car, despite the grid penalty hampering his chances of a good result.

“Yeah, I’m happy with the progress through the weekend,” he said.

“I think the progress from last weekend and then we carried that through this week. And so I’ve been relatively happy with the car, the progress.

“From FP1, the car felt great. I think that’s where it felt probably the best and then we went into FP2, we made changes into qualifying and I think it was the most quick you get from it.”

READ MORE – Why Lewis Hamilton’s Italian GP grid drop shone the spotlight on a long-standing F1 problem