MADRID -- Ferrari teammates Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc held face-to-face talks to clear the air after their first lap battle at the Italian Grand Prix “went too far.”
Hamilton was attempting to pass Leclerc for third place on the opening lap at Monza when Leclerc ran Hamilton wide on the exit of Turn 2.
Hamilton dropped five places as a result of the incident while Leclerc continued in third before losing places on the following lap and crashing out.
The issue split opinions between the two drivers during and after the race, with Hamilton saying Ferrari needed some kind of “rules of engagement” to prevent the two teammates from tripping over each other.
Although he confirmed no such rules have been put in place for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, he said he cleared the air with Leclerc during face-to-face talks after Sunday’s race.
“I think what’s great is that there was no shying away from having a discussion,” he told media on Thursday in Madrid. “We sat face to face, just him and I, and talked about it and we were just both open and honest. We squashed it and we can move on.
“I think that shows the maturity from him. I think it’s healthy. It’s a relationship we have built over time.
“Of course, there’s going to be frustrations and there’s going to be times where we’re kind of ... I’m sure there’ll be more times where we’re close because we’re very close in pace. We both want to win just as much as each other and we both want to do well for the team as well. But yeah, I think it’s real positive.”
Speaking to media in a separate news conference a few minutes earlier, Leclerc took the blame for leaving Hamilton without racing room on the exit of the chicane, but also suggested there was no need for a set of rules between the two drivers going forward.
“I mean the rules of engagement, I think it’s kind of clear that we never want to see a car of the same team in the grass,” Leclerc said. “So yeah, I mean after reviewing, we spoke with Lewis.
“I obviously know I went too far in Turn 2 and I said it to Lewis and I think it’s very clear what we should do or should avoid going forward. But I won’t go into much more details than of what we’ve said.
“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. And that is the most important for me really.”
After the race on Sunday, Hamilton spoke about the need to have rules of engagement similar to those at this old team Mercedes.
Following a series of collisions with his former teammate Nico Rosberg while fighting for the title between 2014 and 2016, Mercedes imposed certain rules between the drivers in an attempt to avoid costly collisions.
Hamilton said Ferrari does not impose similar rules on its drivers, but is confident it can work towards better communication over time.
“I think it’s a longer term process,” he added. “It’s not something we can just change into this weekend. There’s a huge amount of moving parts, there’s a lot of people, 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 and it starts with discussing it.
“It starts with the acknowledgement, which internally we have and so then it just comes to working out the solutions together and it just doesn’t happen overnight. We’ll probably try things and it still won’t be good, but we’ll eventually get to the point we need.”
After Leclerc took responsibility for what happened in Turn 2, he was also asked if he was happy with Hamilton’s move on the inside at Turn 1.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said. “Because it feels then, and I know it’s not a bad intention from you guys, but then in written [media] everything sounds like we are just going back and forth with Lewis which is not the case.
“I think the most important is that we clarified the situation, we talked, I told Lewis how I felt, Lewis told me what he felt and I think we fully agree with both of our views in hindsight when we speak without the emotions of the race. So it happens, it’s not the last time that will happen I’m sure because it’s the kind of things that happens in racing particularly when we are starting so close to each other so often.
“But surely it’s not a situation that we want to find ourselves in again and that is very clear for Lewis and for myself.”
