Lewis Hamilton has assured Ferrari fans that they don’t need to worry about rising tensions between himself and teammate Charles Leclerc after the two came into contact during the F1 Italian GP.
Concerns arose among the tifosi after Sunday’s race at Monza, in which Leclerc and Hamilton started third and fourth on the grid respectively. On the first lap through the opening Rettifilo chicane, the two came wheel-to-wheel, with slight contact forcing Hamilton into the gravel. He subsequently slipped down the order to 10th place.
Hamilton came onto the radio to claim his teammate had pushed him off and was left to play catch-up for the rest of the race, finishing in sixth. Leclerc held onto third despite the incident, but his race quickly came to an end on the following lap when he ran off the track at Parabolica and made heavy contact with the barriers.
Lewis Hamilton: “I don’t race dirty”
Speaking to the media after the race, Hamilton was asked whether the tifosi should be concerned that the incident may indicate underlying tensions between the teammates. It was also acknowledged Hamilton had complained on the team radio about being held up by Leclerc at the previous Dutch GP.
“I don’t race dirty,” Hamilton said.
“I’ve always raced clean and fairly, and always left space, so I don’t think they should be worried about me.
“I’ve come into the team and tried to be respectful of space and definitely not put the team in jeopardy, and I stand by that. That’s all I can talk about on my side.
“You have to speak to Fred [Vasseur, team principal] about the other side and decisions that we could have taken, but I’ll keep pushing and trying to get more from the team and from our car and from the engineers in design and everything like that.”
Hamilton: Ferrari was no match for Mercedes dominance
Hamilton went on to describe the incident between himself and Leclerc as “very bad for the team”, only exacerbating the lack of pace Ferrari had compared with the surrounding cars.
The race was dominated by Mercedes-powered cars, with Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli finishing first and second, followed by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in fourth and fifth. Max Verstappen’s Red Bull was the only non-Mercedes-powered car in the top five.
Hamilton was also hampered by the team deciding not to pit for fresh tyres under the virtual safety car later in the race, despite him voicing concern about the state of his tyres beforehand.
“Obviously, [the incident] put us way back in positions,” he said.
“I then tried to reset, and I was in the fight, doing good. The grip felt good, and the car generally felt decent through the corners.
“But on the straight, they were just pulling. We knew they were fast on the straight, but it was really mind-blowing just how quick they were on the straight – the Mercedes power. That thing just keeps pulling, pulling, pulling.”
READ MORE – Lando Norris issues ‘league of their own’ admission of F1 rivals
Discussion about this post