Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton disillusion Charles Leclerc

Lewis Hamilton denies that he ever thought he would give Charles Leclerc a slipstream to help him win the Italian Grand Prix pole position. Yet, when in Piazza Duomo in Milan a few days ago the Ferrari drivers greeted the fans, the seven-time world champion had announced it. Instead today, no wake, indeed: the team did not discuss it at all.

“Giving the slipstream to my teammate? That’s something I’ve never done in any of the teams I’ve raced with in the past – said Hamilton. Potentially a choice like that means sacrificing one of the two drivers. To make it even more penalizing is the five-position penalty, so for that very reason I needed to place as far ahead as possible.”

Then, on the outlook for tomorrow’s race, Hamilton added: “I was hoping to do better. We had a good pace but our position was this: between fourth and sixth. We already knew that… As for the race I will try to get into the top five but it will be difficult because there are very fast cars in front of me, especially the Mercedes“.