Lewis Hamilton tells Leclerc ‘no we’ in Italian GP clash

Lewis Hamilton rejected the idea that both he and Charles Leclerc had a part to play in their incident at the Italian Grand Prix.

Leclerc felt it was a case of it takes two to tango, but Hamilton insisted “there was no we” in the clash which left Hamilton in the gravel at the start of the Italian Grand Prix. Leclerc crashed out of the race not long after, while Hamilton recovered to P6 only in an underwhelming home race for Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton takes no blame for Charles Leclerc clash

The Ferraris formed row two at the Italian Grand Prix start. Hamilton looked to squeeze down the inside of the sister Ferrari into Turn 1 at Monza. This meant that Leclerc had the inside line for part two of the chicane.

On exit from Turn 2, Hamilton was shown the gravel, and dropped down to tenth as a result.

Leclerc felt that “we” overstepped the mark.

“We went too far,” he said of the incident when speaking with PlanetF1.com and others. “I think Lewis in Turn 1, then Turn 2, I tried to do the tightest corner possible, but that was just not enough, and doing it here is not good.”

Hamilton was informed of Leclerc’s comment, and belief that both drivers got it wrong in stages of that clash.

Hamilton was not having any of it.

“I was ahead in Turn 2. By the apex, I was ahead. There was no ‘we’ in it,” he insisted.

This clashing of opinions for the Ferrari teammates following the incident, comes after Hamilton had urged Ferrari to “work as a team” for the sake of the Drivers’ title, as he is ahead of Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship.

Hamilton was asked if the tifosi should be worried about a feud erupting between himself and Leclerc, after a bitterly disappointing home race for Ferrari.

Leclerc crashed out at Parabolica at the end of Lap 2. Hamilton finished sixth.

“Look, I don’t race dirty,” Hamilton insisted. “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. I stand by that. That’s all I can talk about is on my side.

“You have to speak to Fred [Vasseur, Ferrari team principal] about the other side and decisions that are taken there.

“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.”

Latest Italian GP talking points from PlanetF1.com

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Hamilton remains third in the Drivers’ standings, though his title hopes took a significant hit at Monza.

Home hero Kimi Antonelli pulled off a remarkable drive to go from the tenth row of the grid, due to engine penalties, to victory, thus further extending his championship lead.

Going into the Spanish Grand Prix at Madring, Formula 1’s first visit to the venue, Antonelli has a 66-point lead over Russell, and 76 points over Hamilton.

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