The Mercedes driver finished fifth at the Italian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton believes McLaren could have breezed to victory at the Italian Grand Prix – had they managed their tyres better.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc emerged victorious while McLaren had to settle for second and third with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris taking the podium spots respectively.

Hamilton, who was furious with his display on Saturday in qualifying, finished fifth but hit out at McLaren’s drivers, who had started at the front.

“McLaren had the pace but pushed too hard,” Hamilton explained. “They were doing much too fast laps, early on. They killed their tyres.

Lewis Hamilton has hit out at McLaren/PA

“I guess they planned for a two-stop, that’s why they were pushing so hard. If they backed off longer they could’ve made a one-stop.

“I was getting the information about the times they were doing.

“There is no way the tyres would last, at that pace. Charles did a fantastic job, well done to him.”

Norris and Piastri were ahead but were more interested in racing each other than looking after the course with Leclerc taking advantage.

The Ferrari driver nipped in ahead of Piastri, who is now under investigation from his own team with Norris fuming with his team-mate.

The Australian overtook Norris on lap one and his team will now assess whether he broke ‘Papaya Rules’ by doing so.

Team principal Andrea Stella said: “We will have to review together with the drivers, look at the videos, understand their point of view, and then we will assess together whether they were fully compliant or not.

“We will take the learning, if there is any learning that we need to take, and then we will adjust the Papaya Rules such that they allow us to pursue in the best possible manner both the constructors’ championship and the drivers’ championship.”

McLaren (438) still look best placed to battle Red Bull (446) for top spot with the team sitting eight points them in the leaderboard.

Lewis Hamilton finished fifth while Oscar Piastri overtook Lando Norris to finish second behind Charles Leclerc/PA

However, Max Verstappen (303) is still clear of second-placed Norris (241) in the drivers leaderboard despite fears of a Red Bull implosion.

The current world champion lashed out at his team after finishing sixth in Monza, nearly 38 seconds behind Leclerc, and threatened to stay at home in the future.

“In the race my battery was relatively empty, while fighting Lando of course,” he said.

Oscar Piastri is now under investigation by his own team/PA

“Then I had to go to a certain setting. At some point they have to tell me when I can go back to the quicker setting.

“I ask: ‘Can I go back?’, ‘Oh yeah, yeah you can’. Then I thought ‘What is this? You guys have all the data the entire time, you guys can exactly see when I can make those steps’.

“I shouldn’t have to ask when I can go back. We might be in nobody’s land, but you still have to be on top of things. Otherwise, I can just stay home.”