Lewis Hamilton has assured Ferrari followers that they don’t want to fret about rising tensions between himself and teammate Charles Leclerc after the 2 got here into contact in the course of the F1 Italian GP.
Considerations arose among the many tifosi after Sunday’s race at Monza, during which Leclerc and Hamilton began third and fourth on the grid respectively. On the primary lap by means of the opening Rettifilo chicane, the 2 got here wheel-to-wheel, with slight contact forcing Hamilton into the gravel. He subsequently slipped down the order to tenth place.
Hamilton got here onto the radio to assert his teammate had pushed him off and was left to play catch-up for the remainder of the race, ending in sixth. Leclerc held onto third regardless of the incident, however his race rapidly got here to an finish on the next lap when he ran off the monitor at Parabolica and made heavy contact with the boundaries.
Lewis Hamilton: “I don’t race soiled”
Chatting with the media after the race, Hamilton was requested whether or not the tifosi ought to be involved that the incident could point out underlying tensions between the teammates. It was additionally acknowledged Hamilton had complained on the workforce radio about being held up by Leclerc on the earlier Dutch GP.
“I don’t race soiled,” Hamilton stated.
“I’ve at all times raced clear and pretty, and at all times left area, so I don’t assume they need to be nervous about me.
“I’ve come into the workforce and tried to be respectful of area and positively not put the workforce in jeopardy, and I stand by that. That’s all I can discuss on my facet.
“You must converse to Fred [Vasseur, team principal] concerning the different facet and selections that we might have taken, however I’ll preserve pushing and attempting to get extra from the workforce and from our automobile and from the engineers in design and the whole lot like that.”
Hamilton: Ferrari was no match for Mercedes dominance
Hamilton went on to explain the incident between himself and Leclerc as “very dangerous for the workforce”, solely exacerbating the shortage of tempo Ferrari had in contrast with the encompassing automobiles.
The race was dominated by Mercedes-powered automobiles, with Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli ending first and second, adopted by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in fourth and fifth. Max Verstappen’s Purple Bull was the one non-Mercedes-powered automobile within the prime 5.
Hamilton was additionally hampered by the workforce deciding to not pit for recent tyres beneath the digital security automobile later within the race, regardless of him voicing concern concerning the state of his tyres beforehand.
“Clearly, [the incident] put us approach again in positions,” he stated.
“I then tried to reset, and I used to be within the combat, doing good. The grip felt good, and the automobile usually felt first rate by means of the corners.
“However on the straight, they had been simply pulling. We knew they had been quick on the straight, nevertheless it was actually mind-blowing simply how fast they had been on the straight – the Mercedes energy. That factor simply retains pulling, pulling, pulling.”
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