Leclerc takes responsibility for Monza incident, says good relationship with Hamilton not affected

MADRID (AP) — Charles Leclerc says his “good relationship” with Lewis Hamilton has not been affected despite admitting he went “too far” while fighting for position with his Ferrari teammate at the Italian Grand Prix.

Leclerc on Thursday took responsibility for the incident at Monza last weekend — in which he forced Hamilton into the gravel while defending a pass attempt by his teammate — after reviewing videos of what happened.

“After reviewing, we spoke with Lewis. I obviously know I went too far in Turn 2 and said it to Lewis, and I think it’s very clear what we should do or should avoid going forward,” Leclerc said in Madrid ahead of the Spanish GP.

“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,” he said. “And that is the most important for me, really. Of course, I know we are driving for Ferrari, and if there’s one race where you don’t want that to happen, is in Monza, and when these things happen at our home race, then it does a huge mess outside.”

Leclerc did feel the incident was overblown by the media.

“Surely, the proportion that it takes when you are driving for Ferrari is much bigger, and particularly if we are in Monza,” he said.

Hamilton said Leclerc showed “maturity” for sitting down with him to discuss what happened. He said it was positive that there was “no shying away from having a discussion.”

“We sat face to face, just him and I, and talked about it, and we were just both open and honest, and we squashed it, and we can move on,” Hamilton said. “I think it’s healthy. Of course, there’s going to be frustrations. I’m sure there’ll be more times we are close (on the track). We both want to win just as much as each other and we both want to do well for the team as well.”

Leclerc eventually crashed in a separate incident and did not finish the race in Monza. Hamilton crossed the line in sixth place. Afterward, Hamilton called for Ferrari to adopt formal rules of engagement. The seven-time world champion said that had not been discussed internally yet and acknowledged that any change about communications and procedures and executions would be a long-term process.

“It’s not something you can just change into this weekend,” Hamilton said. “There’s a culture that’s been there for a long, long time. And moving big pieces is not so easy. So we just take it one step at a time. It starts with the acknowledgment, which internally we have, and so then it just comes to working out the solutions together. It just doesn’t happen overnight.”

Even other drivers were weighing in on the Ferrari squabble.

“I can tell you that when you have two competitive teammates, these kinds of situations are always going to happen,” said Williams driver Carlos Sainz Jr., a former Leclerc teammate at Ferrari. “Me with Charles, always twice, two or three times a year, we always had a bit of a discussion or an argument. But after the race or the morning after, we would call each other and sort it out. I think it’s normal.”

Valtteri Bottas, the Cadillac driver who was Hamilton’s teammate at Mercedes for several years, said that “around that time it was very clear that you need to race fair, clean.”

“It’s just how the sport works and sometimes you get it better, sometimes you get it worse,” he said.

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