Italian media unanimous in 'disastrous' Lewis Hamilton verdict: 'Inexcusable'

Gazzetta dello Sport highlighted an important factor of the weekend, whilst also praising Max Verstappen's run to second place whilst Hamilton crashed out. 

"Ferrari is shattered. Kimi Antonelli pushes Charles Leclerc off the track, Lewis Hamilton is disastrous.  Leclerc additionally battled with bad luck once again, while Hamilton made a big, unusual mistake. Leclerc's overtaking manoeuvre [on George Russell] was like Valentino Rossi's overtaking move on Marc Marquez at Assen 2015. 

"The big boss of the weekend, however, was Oscar Piastri. He was in complete control of the result from qualifying. Isack Hadjar was also in good shape. He seems to have a bright future ahead of him. 

"If the McLaren has more to offer than the other cars, Max Verstappen has more to offer than other drivers. After 4 races, he was on the podium again, in front of his own audience, and put on a show to his home crowd. He is always able to make a difference."

Italian media on Hamilton

Where Leclerc's fighting spirit was praised, the verdict on Hamilton was harsher. His performance was seen as underwhelming, with a five-place grid penalty for Monza, and his situation seems hopeless. Corriere della Sera pulled no punches.

"Despite Hamilton not going very badly over the weekend at Zandvoort, he comes up just a little short at the crucial moments," it wrote.

"He is hungry, but with a 5-place penalty already in his pocket for Monza, the dream already seems to be over. Hamilton's mistake was also inexcusable."

On the flip side, Leclerc's fighting spirit was also highlighted by Corriere dello Sport

"Antonelli pushes Leclerc off the track. A day Ferrari last saw 5 years ago, when they saw two drivers crash out [at the 2020 Styrian GP].

"Then it was Sebastian Vettel and Leclerc who went off, whilst before Antonelli crashed into him, Leclerc had overtaken Russell in Rossi-like fashion through the gravel.

"In the end, Leclerc was not so lucky, but Leclerc can be relied upon blindly, and so we have to get ready for Monza. The man of the day, however, was Hadjar. What a performance from the young driver! Hamilton was the worst of the day; he could not keep up with Leclerc's pace."