Overview

• Team principal Fred Vasseur said focusing on the launch lap and tyre preparation was the priority and argued a tow likely would not have changed pole.
• Charles Leclerc said the situation could have been managed differently and indicated the slipstream option was not properly discussed in advance.
• Lewis Hamilton told British TV he has never given a teammate a tow and would not have compromised his own lap, citing his five-place grid penalty.
• Rival technicians estimated a Monza slipstream can be worth about three tenths of a second, which they believe might have narrowed the gap to pole.
• Leclerc qualified fourth and Hamilton fifth, with Hamilton set to start tenth because of the Netherlands penalty, and no team policy change reported before the race.