Leclerc was concerned about his vision immediately after heavy Monza crash

Charles Leclerc says he had concerns about his vision immediately after his heavy crash that stopped the Italian Grand Prix, but expects to be fine to race in Madrid next weekend.

The Ferrari driver lost control in Parabolica at high speed on the second lap of the race, trying to catch a slide before spinning off into the barrier. The impact required the race to be red flagged for barrier repairs, and while Leclerc initially climbed out of the car and jogged to safety, he was then seen sitting for a while under trackside supervision before being checked and released from the medical center.

“It was OK, it was just the vision a little bit at first – the right eye was not showing me a great vision, but now it's all good,” Leclerc said. “So that was the thing I was most worried about getting out of the car. Then after that, a bit of pain in the hand there, which is normal after a crash like this.

“First of all, I think I'll have quite a few additional checks that we still have to do on my side, probably tonight and tomorrow, to make sure that I'll be fully fine for Madrid. It should be the case, but better to be safe than sorry.”

Leclerc was defending from Oscar Piastri on the entry to Parabolica and left a little bit of space for the McLaren, but says he doesn’t think he was particularly off-line to cause the incident.

“I wouldn't say that this is the issue. I think from lap 1 to lap 2, I had a bit of a difference in power delivery. We'll look into it, but I don't want to comment too much before checking the data and confirming it 100%.”

The crash came after Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton had fought through the opening chicane at the start of the race, with Hamilton complaining he was pushed off track by his teammate. Leclerc pushed back against suggestions of friction between the Ferrari drivers, while admitting they pushed their luck this time.

“I don't really know who is forcing that narrative that we are one against the other," he said. "I mean, honestly, Zandvoort there was way too many talk [about it] already. Here, it's true though that we went too far. I think Lewis in Turn 1, then Turn 2 I tried to do the tightest corner possible, but that was just not enough and doing it here is not good.”