Hamilton realistic after his duel with Leclerc: “I had to avoid collision several times”

This is rare enough to be noted. Sunday, on the Monza circuit (Italy), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) did not emerge victorious from a fierce duel with an opponent, in this case Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).

However, the Briton applied constant pressure on the Monegasque. The latter, motivated by fans, sometimes defended roughly, notably by pushing his rival off the track at the second chicane:

Warned by a black and white flag by the Race Direction (the equivalent of a yellow card), Charles Leclerc subsequently cut the first chicane and moved aside while Lewis Hamilton was going to launch an offensive. Finally, it was the Silver Arrow which crashed for good by short-circuiting the first chicane (see photo below).

Third at the finish, the championship leader had a polite smile. “That’s how we race these days. I had to avoid collision several times today. We're just moving forward now, there's nothing dramatic. »

The first incident reminded him an almost identical case between his teammate Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen at Monza in 2018. At the time, the Dutchman was penalized, which raises for the umpteenth time the concern for logic within the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

“I guess the stewards got up on a different side of their bed this morning, I don't know,” said Lewis Hamilton sarcastically. We ask for regularity, so the same rule should apply every time. »

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