Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari/6th): Disagreement over tyres, chance of a podium finish gone

Ferrari stirred up some very strong emotions during this spectacular Italian Grand Prix, but there were no feelings of victory to be had. It began with a fierce battle between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at Turn 1, with the Briton even ending up in the gravel trap, prompting an investigation by the FIA stewards.

However, any potential penalty came to nothing, even though Leclerc flew off the track at the Parabolica and can count himself lucky to have emerged unscathed, apart from a few bruises. His Ferrari is a write-off, and the World Championship race had to be halted under the red flag.

As the race progressed, Lewis Hamilton was involved in some breathtaking battles with McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, but in the end the five-time Monza winner could only manage sixth place.

With all due respect, that is simply not good enough for Ferrari, not good enough at Monza, and not good enough for a driver of Hamilton’s calibre.

And once again, the spotlight is on Ferrari’s race strategy. During the virtual safety car period (Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin had to be pushed to the side), Ferrari chose not to give Lewis Hamilton fresh tyres.

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A tyre change under the VSC saves a good ten seconds compared to a stop under green, and the driver in question also benefits from fresh tyres. Just how valuable these were was demonstrated by Kimi Antonelli, who used them to mercilessly close the gap on and then overtake George Russell.

Hamilton was eventually overtaken by both McLaren drivers; sixth place is just as mediocre as it was in Miami at the start of May and in Japan before that. The seven-time world champion has finished in the top ten at every Grand Prix, but has never finished further down the order at any GP.

In the closing stages of the race, Lewis made his feelings known, which was easy to see from the outside: “These tyres are terrible.”

Later, the 106-time Grand Prix winner said: “I don’t know what I could have done much better today; I really gave it my all.”

“I’d been pushing for us to run on the hard tyres, but the team felt we should try the medium ones. They thought that would give us more strategic options.”

“Then, of course, the fact that we needed to make up places also played a part in the decision to go for the softer compound. Then we didn’t pit during the VSC phase, and the tyres were simply too worn out. I reckon if we’d started on the hard tyres, we could have put more pressure on the frontrunners.”