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Hamilton wants chat with Leclerc over being squeezed off track

Lewis Hamilton plans to have a private word with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc after being squeezed off the track by the Italian Grand Prix winner on Sunday.

Stewards showed Leclerc the black-and-white flag, equivalent to a yellow card in football, after he closed the door on Hamilton as Mercedes' five-time world champion tried to pass.

"He didn't leave me a car's width there, he pushed me off," exclaimed Hamilton over the team radio.

The championship leader, who finished third, said he just wanted consistency from the stewards.

"There was a rule put in place, and then it wasn't abided today and they used different consequences for the rule today. But I don't really know why that was the case," he said.

"I guess the stewards woke up on a different side of the bed this morning. I don't know."

Hamilton nevertheless congratulated Leclerc on a job well done, the pole-sitter taking his second win in eight days after a first triumph in Belgium.

"I gave him as much pressure as I could and we had a couple of close moments, we could probably talk about it in private together, but it's nothing major and we continue to race," he said. "I'm looking forward to many more races together."

Leclerc had led through the first corner, with Hamilton slotting into second. The two duelled, going wheel to wheel at times, until Hamilton's tyres faded.

Leclerc said he thought he had left enough room but also agreed that he had taken a more aggressive approach to his racing since losing out to Red Bull's Max Verstappen in Austria.

In that race, the Dutchman forced Leclerc wide but kept the win after a stewards' enquiry.

"I think since Austria, it's clear that we can go a bit further in the way that we defend and overtake," Leclerc said.

"I believe that Austria helped me to change this approach and today it's also thanks to this that I've managed to win. It was obviously very on-the-limit but I'm happy to race like this." - REUTERS

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