Fans react to Lewis Hamilton claiming he was not in favor of giving Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc a tow during the F1 Italian GP qualifying

The F1 paddock had speculated that Lewis Hamilton might chip in to give Charles Leclerc a slipstream during the qualifying for the Italian GP, as the Briton already had to contend with a five-place grid drop and could not have fought for pole position. But the team chose against it, and when the question was raised against the seven-time champion, he reasoned otherwise.

Hamilton was given a five-place grid drop for the Italian GP as he had failed to slow down adequately for yellow flags during his reconnaissance laps at the Dutch GP. This placed him on the back foot heading into Monza.

This led many to speculate that Ferrari might order Hamilton to give Leclerc a tow during the qualifying run in an attempt to secure the team's 24th pole position around the fabled track. But, when the expected tow dance did not take place, this raised questions about why the Scuderia did not attempt to give one of its drivers an edge to claim the pole position in front of the Tifosi.

This question was subsequently asked to the 40-year-old, who shared his take on the whole situation in the post-qualifying interview with Sky Sports F1:

"Do I feel that they should have? No, it's not something I ever did in any of my other teams, and I'm sacrificing one of the drivers, and I've already got a five-place penalty, so points-wise I needed to be as high as I could."

However, the stance of the Briton on the whole ordeal led some fans to condemn his behavior:

"This man makes me sick now🤮, one fan wrote.

"Thank god bottas did it in His "Other teams," another fan wrote.

"why does he act like he has proved his worth at ferrari?" a third fan wrote.

While other fans sided with Lewis Hamilton and claimed that the Brit was right to hold his ground:

"It’s just that simple," one netizen wrote.

"Too right, these woke younger F1 fans need to get real," another netizen wrote.

"Agree. Go get your own pole," a third netizen wrote.

Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth during the session, over a tenth behind Charles Leclerc, who was fourth when the chequered flag fell.

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Charles Leclerc gives his take on not receiving a tow from Lewis Hamilton during the qualifying for the Italian GP

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc after the qualifying for the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Italy - Source: Getty

Charles Leclerc is a two-time pole sitter around Monza. Moreover, the early pace of the Ferrari SF-25 over the weekend led people to speculate that he could be on for the fight for the top spots on the grid come qualifying.

With Lewis Hamilton's five-place grid drop, a narrative within the paddock swirled around that the Brit might help his younger teammate. But, as it turned out, the Monegasque didn't receive any aid from the seven-time champion.

When asked about his thoughts on the matter, he said in a post-qualifying interview with Sky Sports F1:

"As for the tow... well. It wasn't up to me, we didn't go for it, it's whatever."

Lewis Hamilton is expected to start 10th on the grid for the race tomorrow, while Leclerc is slated to line up in fourth as he does not have any grid penalties to contend with.