Explained: Why Lewis Hamilton didn’t give DRS to Charles Leclerc at Imola

Charles Leclerc has shed light on why his request for Lewis Hamilton to provide DRS support in the closing stages of the Imola Grand Prix was ultimately denied.

Late in the Italian race, as the pair found themselves running close together, Leclerc asked Hamilton to drop back and give him the benefit of DRS, but the request was not fulfilled.

Leclerc Explains DRS Confusion

Ferrari's decision was based on the strategic advantage of keeping Hamilton within striking distance of Oscar Piastri in third place. Leclerc later revealed that a glitch in his steering wheel display, which showed an incorrect lap count, led him to mistakenly believe it was the final lap of the race.

"My dash was a lap or two out so I thought it was the last lap," Leclerc told Sky F1. "So I was like, 'No way Lewis can get Oscar.' But actually, there were two or three laps to go. So then the team explained to me, and I, of course, understood the situation. Anyway, the team asked me to let Alex [Albon] by, so it wouldn’t have changed much."

Leclerc expressed significant frustration during and after the race, stating he "cannot accept the situation" that Ferrari finds itself in.

"I was saying before the race, it was one of the races where you've got to race with the heart and you've got to put the elbows out a little bit," Leclerc commented. "And I know that when it's like this, you go very much on the limit, sometimes a little bit over.

"But when you're starting P11, I mean, as a driver, I just cannot accept the situation we are in, and so I took risks. I don't think that with Pierre [Gasly], I was particularly at fault or over the limit. I mean, it was just a racing incident.

"In the way it was with Alex, it was very much on the limit, for sure. I thought that in the way the rules are written, I was right on the limit of those rules. I've got to check the images again. I don't regret anything I've done.

"Today was all about giving it all, and I knew from the moment that I didn't take the pit stop on the second safety car that it was going to be very difficult."

Leclerc had been instructed by his team to allow Albon to pass him late in the race after an incident where Leclerc appeared to run Albon off the track.