Ferrari: Charles Leclerc Regrets What He Did

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, speaking at a press conference in Madrid, revisited the events of the bitterly disappointing Italian Grand Prix, starting with the head-to-head battle at the start with his teammate Lewis Hamilton: “I take full responsibility for what happened with Lewis at the start; I know full well that I went too far at Turn 2.”

“We met on Monday and talked at length about everything; I told him how I felt about it, and he told me how he felt.” This won’t be the last time something like this happens—I’m certain of it—because these things happen in racing, especially between two very close teammates. But at the same time, these are situations to be avoided, particularly in a home race like ours at Monza.”

After the collision at 200 km/h at the Parabolica, Leclerc provided an update on his condition: “Everything’s okay. I’m still a little shaken up, but I’m not in much pain. Right after the impact, I didn’t feel very well, but that was probably mostly due to the shock of what had happened. I underwent several tests in the days following the race, especially on my neck because it felt stiff, but the results came back clear, so I’m ready to return to racing as usual.”

Lewis Hamilton commented on his relationship with his teammate: “There’s no tension. If we look at the history of Formula 1, we see many teammates who have competed against each other. It’s nothing new, and it’s nothing serious. There were no ground rules, and I didn’t push for any. Right now, the priority is improving our results: we’ll discuss this further—you can’t change course in two days.”