Charles Leclerc's first words after heavy Monza shunt

Charles Leclerc has given his first reaction to the high-speed crash that ended his Italian Grand Prix in the opening few laps. 

Leclerc was battling with Oscar Piastri over fourth place on lap two of the Monza race when he lost the rear of his Ferrari on throttle coming out of the Parabolica. 

Putting both of his left tyres onto a green-painted section on the outside of the corner, Leclerc initially caught the slide, but his Ferrari quickly gripped and he was fired off the track and deep into the tyre wall. To allow for the recovery and clean-up operation, the race was red-flagged. 

Speaking to Sky Sports, Leclerc said: "When on power, I didn't feel like the car was quite all right. I went off, and again, there was quite a bit of power then, and I lost the car, but I have got to look at the data. I haven't checked it yet. 

Referencing a lap one clash with team-mate Lewis Hamilton, which saw the Briton take to the gravel to avoid further contact, Leclerc added: "For the start, not much to say. I mean, Lewis tried to overtake. There wasn't much space there, and then I tried to make Turn 2 as tight as I possibly could."

For Ferrari, the Italian Grand Prix was one to forget, with the team's problems stretching throughout the race with Hamilton, who finished in sixth place.

"It's a very tough day, starting with the start and lap one," said team boss Fred Vasseur. 

"Since Charles was side-by-side with Oscar on the last corner in the Parabolica, and he went a little bit on the dirty side of the track. He lost the car.

"I haven't spoken with him, but he was okay, okay-ish, and I hope he will be really okay. He destroyed the car, and the engine is not in good shape, also."

Offering an overview of a tough weekend, Vasseur said: "The positive of the weekend is the pace was decent on one lap, but we missed too many opportunities today."