Lewis Hamilton questions McLaren for ‘pushing too hard’ and ‘killing their tyres’

Lewis Hamilton believes McLaren could have comfortably won the F1 Italian Grand Prix had they “backed off” and managed their tyres.

McLaren were unable to convert their front row start at Monza into a race victory as they were out-foxed by Ferrari and Charles Leclerc.

Oscar Piastri led teammate Lando Norris after the first round of stops, with Leclerc close behind.

However, after his off-track moment at Turn 4, McLaren switched Norris to a two-stop strategy before doing the same with Piastri.

This handed Leclerc track position and ultimately the victory at Monza.

Giving his view on the race afterwards, Hamilton suggested McLaren should have won had they simply reduced their pace early on.

“McLaren had the pace but pushed too hard,” Hamilton explained. “They were doing much too fast laps, early on. They killed their tyres.

“I guess they planned for a two-stop, that’s why they were pushing so hard. If they backed off longer they could’ve made a one-stop.

“I was getting the information about the times they were doing. There is no way the tyres would last, at that pace. Charles did a fantastic job, well done to him.”

In terms of Hamilton’s race, he secured fifth, beating the two Red Bulls and teammate George Russell.

It was a relatively straightforward race for Hamilton given he didn’t have the pace of the top two teams.

Hamilton revealed Mercedes planned to do a one-stop but struggled with tyre degradation.

“We were planning to do a one-stop but my tyres were dropping off, just trying to hold onto Carlos,” he added.

“Definitely unexpected. But they had an upgrade so it was inevitable that they would be quick compared to us.

“I wish we were in the fight but onwards and upwards.”

Mercedes missing an upgrade

Hamilton feels that Mercedes’ lack of pace relative to Ferrari was due to the fact the Italian outfit had an extensive upgrade for this weekend.

“The only positive is that we have good reliability, but everyone around us did too,” he said. “Ultimately we didn’t have the race pace. I am not sure why.

“Even if I started further ahead, it would’ve been hard. If I was ahead of the Ferraris they would have come out ahead because they had more pace than us.

“They had an upgrade this weekend and we didn’t. That’s how it goes. There will be a race where we have an upgrade and they don’t, and we’ll be stronger, hopefully.

“It is very, very fine, small margins between all of us. Unfortunately today we didn’t have the pace, and we had more deg. I could have done a one-stop but I would’ve come out in the same place.”