Charles Leclerc of Ferrari.© AFP
Charles Leclerc on Thursday conceded he was at fault when he clashed with Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton during the opening lap at the Italian Grand Prix. Speaking to reporters at the new Madring, ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, the Monegasque driver said the pair had discussed the incident and settled their differences. The clash saw Hamilton run off into the gravel and lose six places while Leclerc continued, but then crashed out on lap two at last Sunday’s Grand Prix in Monza. Leclerc had initially said “we went too far”, a claim that Hamilton disagreed with by stating that “there was no ‘we’ in it”.
“I think it’s kind of clear that we never want to see a car of the same team in the grass,” Leclerc said in the Spanish capital.
“After reviewing, we spoke with Lewis, I obviously know I went too far in Turn Two and I said it to Lewis and I think it’s very clear what we should do or should avoid going forward.”
Leclerc added that it was “not acceptable” to see his team-mate in the gravel, but pointed out that more was made of the incident because it occurred at the team’s ‘home’ race.
“We are driving for Ferrari and if there’s one race where you don’t want that to happen it is Monza and when these things happen at our home race, then it does a huge mess outside,” the 28-year-old added.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton said he also discussed the matter with Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur and that there was no bad blood.
“That’s the positive of where we’ve got to over the past 15 months,” the 41-year-old explained. “We’ve got to a place where we have really great communication internally and the same with me and Charles.
“I think it’s great that there was no shying away from having a discussion. We sat face to face, just him and me and we talked and we were both open and honest. We squashed it. We can move on.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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