Hamilton Says Ferrari Priority Call Is 'Far Too Late' After Leclerc Clash

Lewis Hamilton says it is "far too late" for Ferrari to give him priority over teammate Charles Leclerc in the championship fight, following a costly first-lap clash between the pair at the Italian Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion started fourth and finished sixth at Monza after Leclerc pushed him onto the grass at the exit of the first chicane, dropping him to 10th. Leclerc then crashed heavily at the Parabolica on lap two, bringing out a red flag and leaving Hamilton as Ferrari's only hope of a top-three finish.

"It's far too late for those decisions to come. It's too late," Hamilton said. "All I can do is just try and turn up. I'll get up tomorrow morning and I'll give it my best."

The incident intensified existing friction between the two drivers, which had already surfaced at the Dutch Grand Prix last month when Hamilton felt the team took too long to move Leclerc aside.

Hamilton now trails championship leader and race winner Kimi Antonelli by 76 points, with Mercedes securing a one-two finish at Monza. He is also 10 points behind his former Mercedes teammate George Russell, who had been level on points with Hamilton before the race.

After the race, Hamilton called for written rules of engagement at Ferrari, referencing his time at Mercedes. "When I was at Mercedes, we had a written rule of engagement," he said. "We never really had it too bad. Maybe moments with me and Nico [Rosberg] a couple of times. But more often than not it was good."

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur described the incident between his two drivers as "not good" but said it was too early to make a decision on team orders before Monza. "Now we have time to discuss with the guys," he added.

Leclerc said the move into turn one was "way too close" and that he was unaware whether the pair had made contact. Hamilton rejected the idea of shared responsibility: "I was ahead in turn two by the ethics, I was ahead. There was no 'we' in it."

Hamilton also said Ferrari needed to change how it communicates. "If we continue to travel the same path, we get the same result," he said. "We've got to change things because it's not helping us to move forward. I think they're receptive to it and we'll take it offline."

Leclerc was checked over by medical staff after his crash and expects to be fine to compete at next weekend's Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid.