Monza misery for Ferrari as Leclerc crashes out and Hamilton limps home in sixth
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MONZA, Italy (AP) — Ferrari brought confidence and upgrades into its home grand prix weekend. The race ended in tears and despair.
Lewis Hamilton finished the Italian Grand Prix a distant sixth, more than 20 seconds behind Formula 1 leader Kimi Antonelli — who had a sensational race from the back — to leave his title hopes in tatters.
It was even worse for Charles Leclerc, whose race lasted less than five minutes before he crashed hard.
Leclerc lost control coming out of Parabolica at the end of Lap 2 and swerved off into the barriers at high speed. He got out of his car and sat down near the track, looking heartbroken.
The hordes of passionate, red-clad tifosi around the track looked similarly despondent, with many in tears.
“It’s very frustrating, but it’s the way it is now. I cannot change the result,” said Leclerc, who admitted the car felt “a little bit weird.”
“I think from Lap 1 to Lap 2, I had a bit of a difference in power delivery. We’ll look into it, but I don’t want to comment too much before checking the data and confirming it 100%,” he added.
Better safe than sorry
Leclerc said he had a bit of a problem with the vision in his right eye immediately after the crash but that he now felt fine, apart from “a bit of pain here and there.”
He did add, however, that he would have further checks over the next 24 hours to make sure that he is fit to compete in next weekend’s Spanish GP.
“It should be the case but better be safe than sorry,” Leclerc said.
Questions were also raised about the relationship between Leclerc and Hamilton after a tense tussle between the two Ferrari drivers at the second corner that saw Hamilton go into the gravel and tumble from fourth to 10th.
“I don’t really know who is forcing that narrative that we are one against the other,” Leclerc said. “Here it’s true though that we went too far. I think Lewis in turn one, then turn two I tried to do the tightest corner possible, but that was just not enough and doing it here is not good.
“It is never what you want between two cars of the same team.”
‘Devastating’ for Hamilton
Hamilton arrived at Monza on the back of eight consecutive top-five finishes and having finally got his first win for Ferrari in June. That had thrust him right into the title race.
The seven-time champion started Sunday 59 points behind Antonelli, with upgrades to his Ferrari and 15 grid places ahead of the young Italian.
He ended the weekend 76 points behind Antonelli.
“A bit devastating, tough one to swallow, lost a lot of points and ultimately couldn’t keep a Mercedes engine behind,” Hamilton said.
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See AP’s full auto racing coverage here