‘We’ve got to change things’ – Hamilton insists Ferrari have to look at ‘how we communicate’ after Italian GP

Lewis Hamilton has called on Ferrari "to change things" in how it manages the intra-team battle between the seven-time World Champion and Charles Leclerc following last weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

The Tifosi had high hopes of a strong result in Sunday's 53-lap race Monza, with Leclerc and Hamilton occupying the second row of the grid.

But the race quickly unravelled as Hamilton dropped to the fringes of the top 10 after finding the gravel on the exit of the first chicane having gone side-by-side with Leclerc, who in turn crashed heavily at the end of the second lap.

Hamilton was eventually able to salvage P6 at the end of the race, but described the result as "devastating" and "a tough one to swallow" having failed to capitalise on a strong starting position.

"Look, I don't race dirty. I've always raced clean and fairly and always left space, so I don't think they should be worried about me," said Hamilton when asked to give his views on the first corner incident with Leclerc.

"I mean, I've come into the team and tried to be respectful of space and definitely not put the team in jeopardy. I stand by that and that's all I can talk about on my side.

"You have to speak to Fred [Vasseur, Team Principal] about the other side and the decisions that are taken there, but I'll keep pushing and trying to get more from the team and from our car and from the engineers and design and everything like that."

Hamilton's upturn in form during his sophomore season with Ferrari, which includes a maiden Grand Prix victory with the Scuderia in Barcelona and four further podiums, has at times put him in direct competition with Leclerc.

The pair battled fiercely in China, while Hamilton was left angry over the radio in the Netherlands as the Briton was held up by Leclerc while on a different strategy that potentially cost him a chance at a podium.

Hamilton continued to explain that he believes Ferrari need to change their approach in how they go racing, with Mercedes notably managing team orders between its drivers despite both Kimi Antonelli and George Russell fighting for the drivers' title.

"Ultimately, it comes from the top," added Hamilton. "It trickles down the decisions, and so it starts with Fred. There's only so much you can say, so much you can push and shout from the mountain top.

"Yesterday I said that we've got to look at just how we communicate, because if we continue to travel the same path, we get the same result. And it's like, we keep getting the same result.

"We've got to change things, because this is not helping us to move forward. I think they were receptive to it and we'll take it offline...probably not for next week, but particularly after the next race to try and look how we can procedurally do things different so the same thing can't keep happening."