Lewis Hamilton Insists His Racing Relationship With Charles Leclerc Survived Ferraris Monza Scare | Edit ShortsCars

Lewis Hamilton has told reporters his working relationship with Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc has not been damaged by their near-collision at the Italian Grand Prix, even as he pushes the team to rethink how it lets the two of them race one another.

Hamilton and Leclerc lined up on the second row for Ferrari’s home race at Monza, only for any hope of a podium to disappear inside the opening laps. The two ran side by side into Turn 2; Hamilton was pushed onto the gravel, and Leclerc crashed out not long after. Hamilton recovered through the field to finish sixth.

“Nothing Lingers”, Hamilton Says

In the aftermath, Hamilton pressed Ferrari to “change things” so the pair don’t end up “in jeopardy” of taking each other out again, and Team Principal Fred Vasseur signalled that a conversation on rules of engagement was coming. Asked directly where things now stand with Leclerc, Hamilton was unequivocal.

“I think we’ve got a good racing relationship,” he said. “I think the fact is that we are grown-ups and are able to communicate with each other, which we have.”

He said he wanted Leclerc back at full strength for the rest of the year, with the pair needing to work together if Ferrari wants to close the gap on Mercedes.

“I’m really happy that he’s really healthy and he’s back here this weekend because we need him in the fight to challenge Mercedes together,” Hamilton said. “There is all this discussion about communication and execution and stuff, but the communication between John Elkann, Benedetto Vigna and Fred, and his drivers, is really great.

“We all sit down and talk afterwards, squash it and move on so nothing lingers. We’re just looking forward to how we can work better together.”

The Rival Ferrari Cannot Ignore

Antonelli’s Monza victory was the story of the weekend. The Mercedes rookie started from the back of the grid after a power unit penalty, then carved his way to the front to beat teammate George Russell by 3.8 seconds, a comeback drive that stretched his championship lead to 76 points over Hamilton and 66 over Russell. Antonelli has now won seven races this season to Russell’s two, form that has left Ferrari and the rest of the grid chasing a driver few expected to be this far clear by round 13.

A Gap Hamilton Cannot Close Alone

The Monza result dropped Hamilton to 76 points behind Antonelli in the drivers’ standings, a margin close to three Grand Prix wins, with only 10 rounds remaining on the calendar. Hamilton is chasing an eighth world title, one that would take him clear of Michael Schumacher’s record of seven, and the numbers now sit firmly against him.

Still, he refused to write off Ferrari’s chances of getting back into the fight before the year is out.

“I’m still a believer that Ferrari has absolutely everything we need to win,” he said. “It takes everything coming together, naturally, to be able to achieve what we’re trying to achieve.

“It’s also difficult when you’re fighting against the team just ahead on performance. I think we just have to continue. We’ve built a really good foundation with this first part of the year, and we just have to continue to build on it. The team has worked incredibly hard to bring upgrades weekend in and weekend out.”

Trusting Vasseur’s Direction

Hamilton pointed to Ferrari’s recent engine gains as a sign the team is heading the right way, even where results haven’t caught up yet.

“We’ve just obviously taken a step with the engine, which is a real positive,” he said. “I think it’s really important to just acknowledge that. I trust in everything that we’re doing, the steps we’re taking. Trusting Fred, and I really believe that we will get to where we’re going. Whether it’s next week, several weeks’ time or next year, we’ll just keep pushing.”

A New Circuit, a Clean Slate

Both Ferrari drivers now turn their attention to the Spanish Grand Prix, the first race held on Madrid’s new Madring circuit and the first Spanish GP held outside Barcelona in 36 years. The 5.416km, 22-turn layout, which includes the banked La Monumental corner, gives every team on the grid an unfamiliar track to learn at the same time.

A first Ferrari drivers’ title for Hamilton, and the team’s first with any driver going all the way back to Kimi Raikkonen’s win in 2007, remains the target his move to Maranello was built around, and the Monza incident briefly threatened to overshadow that project in front of the team’s home fans. Monza sits close to Ferrari’s Maranello factory, and the tifosi who fill the grandstands treat the race as the team’s true home event, which made the Turn 2 near-miss between its own two cars especially painful to watch from the pit wall.

With Leclerc cleared to race after his own crash at Monza, Hamilton’s comments point to Ferrari treating that moment as a one-off rather than a pattern, with Vasseur’s promised talks on managing his two drivers expected to land before the pair line up again this weekend in Madrid. For a driver in his first season wearing red, Hamilton’s insistence that nothing has been left to fester between himself and Leclerc reads as an attempt to draw a line under Monza before a brand new circuit gives Ferrari the chance to reset.

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