Lewis Hamilton revealed that he “could tell” McLaren couldn’t complete a one-stop at Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix based on their lightening pace in the opening laps.
McLaren squandered the chance to convert a front-row lock-out into a win at Monza, as Charles Leclerc completed one less pit stop to triumph on Ferrari’s home soil.
The Woking-based squad’s race began to unravel when Oscar Piastri overtook Lando Norris at Turn 4 on the first lap, which Leclerc capitalised on to separate the two.
McLaren’s strive to regain track position prompted a successful undercut on Lap 14, but complicated the team’s chances of reaching the end without another pit stop.
That transpired to be the case as both McLaren drivers were called to pit a second time, while Leclerc managed a 38-lap stint on the Hards to take the chequered flag.
But while attention has been on the decision not to introduce team orders, Hamilton contends McLaren’s choice to push harder in the nascent stages was its undoing.
“I think McLaren had the pace [to win], they just pushed too hard,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
“They were doing much too fast laps early on, and killed their tyres. I guess they literally had planned for a two stop, that’s why they were pushing so hard.”
Hamilton, who came home in fifth place, has disclosed that he was certain McLaren was on a two-stop plan when he was told its lap times in the opening exchanges.
The seven-time F1 champion, meanwhile, has dismissed Norris’ claim that a one-stop wasn’t viable, citing that a more controlled pace would have made it achievable.
“If they just backed off and gone longer they could, for sure, have made a one stop,” the ex-McLaren driver added.
“But I could tell. I was getting the information of the [lap] times they were doing, and there’s no way your tyres are gonna last at that pace.”
Mercedes would also end up making an additional pit stop with both drivers, but Hamilton has asserted that excessive degradation on the W15 made that inevitable.
Asked what Mercedes was lacking at Monza, Hamilton responded: “Just race pace, we had more degradation and just generally lacking one or two-tenths in the race.”
He added: “It’s like you’re either not graining the left front or you’re graining the left rear. We just didn’t have the pace. We had to go and look and try to understand why.
“Also because we looked better on Friday than we did. We got almost slower through the weekend or others got faster or we were too light and they were heavy.”
