Lewis Hamilton/Ferrari on Charles Leclerc: “We’ll meet again”

Press conference with Ferrari superstar Lewis Hamilton. Naturally, the conversation turns once again to the relentless battle between the two Ferrari drivers at Monza. And also to Hamilton’s critical comments after the race regarding the strategy.

Hamilton tries to take the heat off the situation: “I had a good chat with team principal Fred Vasseur on the Monday after the race to sort a few things out. It’s only natural that we sometimes disagree, but we’re all working towards the same goal – we want to move Ferrari forward.”

“As for Charles and me, we sat down in private and discussed the tense situations. I appreciate that he didn’t shy away from this conversation, but is completely open with me. Ultimately, we need to reach a point where we’re not racing against each other and ending up fourth and fifth, but rather joining forces so that we can have a say in the fight for a podium place. We’ve discussed what happened at Monza and are putting it behind us.»

“But such battles are perfectly normal in sport. It’s also inevitable that we’ll meet again on the track. Because he wants to achieve a good result just as much as I do.”

Many Tifosi are calling for Ferrari to back Hamilton wholeheartedly in the title race. But Lewis says: “I’m not demanding that the team back me. What I’m strongly calling for is that we make the most of our potential and execute our races better.”

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Madrid: Das Rennen Re-Live

FIA Formula One World Championship

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“We’re a long way behind Mercedes, and even though we’ve made further progress, the Mercedes is simply faster. At Monza, we lost nearly six-tenths there alone because of the many straights; on other circuits, depending on the layout, it’s in the region of three to four-tenths.”

Lewis Hamilton has something the other 20 GP drivers lack: laps at the Madrid circuit in a Formula 1 car. In early July, Ferrari organised a so-called ‘film day’ at the new Madrid circuit, which is actually intended for shooting footage for promotional videos. Hamilton and Charles Leclerc didn’t miss this chance to get to know the Madring in their 2026 Ferrari.

The competition were not amused and spoke of an unfair advantage for the Reds. The advantage is, of course, limited: the track was extremely dirty, and the tyres were not the same as those the drivers will be using this weekend.

The only advantage for the seven-time Formula 1 world champion is that he already knows the track from a racing car’s perspective.

Speaking ahead of the Grand Prix weekend at the Madring, Hamilton said: “You can’t imagine how dusty the track was; there was zero grip, absolutely nothing – we couldn’t even go full throttle. At least I could see roughly where I needed to drive through. But apart from that, there wasn’t much to learn.”