Charles Leclerc lifts lid on Ferrari ‘review’ after Lewis Hamilton conversation

Charles Leclerc said that he went too far at the Italian Grand Prix start, an admission that he made to Lewis Hamilton in a Ferrari review.

As for Hamilton’s rules of engagement call, Leclerc said it is “very clear” what he and Hamilton should and should not be doing going forwards. Leclerc also confirmed that his and Hamilton’s relationship has not been impacted by the incident at Monza.

Charles Leclerc accepts role in Lewis Hamilton Monza clash

Hamilton was left kicking up gravel at the opening chicane as the Italian Grand Prix got underway, having attempted to go around the outside of Leclerc in the sister Ferrari.

Hamilton complained that Leclerc had pushed him off, but no further action was taken by the FIA stewards. Hamilton lost a number of positions due to that incident, eventually finishing P6.

Ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, PlanetF1.com asked Leclerc for his take on the “rules of engagement” that Hamilton had called for following their clash at Monza.

“The rules of engagement, I think it’s kind of clear that we never want to see a car on the same team in the grass,” said Leclerc.

“After reviewing, we spoke with Lewis, I obviously know I went too far in Turn 2 and I said it to Lewis.

“I think it’s very clear what we should do or should avoid going forward. But I won’t go into much more details of what we’ve said.

“The only thing I can say is that it definitely did not affect the good relationship that we have, and it will not affect anything going forward. And that is the most important for me, really.

“Then, of course, we are driving for Ferrari, and if there’s one race where you don’t want that to happen, it is in Monza, and when these things happens at our home race, then it does a huge mess outside.

“However, looking at the race from outside, there’s been also some friction between other teammates and the only thing we end up speaking of is Lewis and I, which I don’t think is quite right.

“But that doesn’t mean we did everything perfect. I didn’t in Turn 2, and for that I’ve been straight away very clear with Lewis after reviewing the images.”

Another request which Hamilton had made, going into the Italian GP, was for team work at Ferrari as he looked to boost his world championship hopes.

That was interpreted as a call for team orders.

Hamilton explained to PlanetF1.com the true meaning of his comments, when asked if it was time for Ferrari to get Leclerc to weigh in behind him, and make it a one-driver effort to win the title.

He said: “That’s not actually really what I’ve been asking for.

“It’s really just making sure we’re executing to make sure we get the best result for the team, instead of us working against each other and finish fourth and fifth.

“Maybe you can work together and get a podium, pull off more points.

“I think at this point, Mercedes really, if you look at the last race, they were six-tenths-a-lap quicker on the straights.

“In most of the other tracks, it’s three or four tenths we’re losing just on the straights, so I think we’ve done a really great job given that we’ve had that deficit.

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“We continue to make improvements to the car. We’ve made improvements to the engine.

“We knew that the last upgrade wasn’t going to be a silver bullet and close that gap completely, but for me, it’s really positive to see us continuously stepping forwards, and they are just very, very quick, and it’s not easy.

“So, rather than focus on them, they’re not a focus for me at the moment.

“I think our focus should just be how we can do the best and execute the best on our weekends, because there’ll be weekends where they’re exceptional, and there’ll be weekends where they maybe drop the ball, and as long as we just focus on our consistency and trying to optimise our weekends, maybe there’s a mere moment where we are able to capitalise on perhaps their shortcomings.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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