MONZA, Italy, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The Italian Formula One Grand Prix was halted on the fourth of 53 scheduled laps on Sunday after Ferrari's Charles Leclerc crashed heavily at Parabolica.
The Monegasque appeared uninjured but shocked, extracting himself from the car and then sitting hunched on the grass behind the barriers.
Leclerc had started the race in third place with teammate Lewis Hamilton alongside in fourth but the Briton tried to pass down the inside at the first corner, with the seven-time world champion forced wide into the gravel and plunging to 11th place.
"Charles pushed me off," Hamilton complained over the radio, in an incident noted by stewards, before the home race -- in front of a record crowd at Monza -- suddenly turned into even more of a nightmare.
Television replays showed Leclerc, in fourth place but under pressure from McLaren's Oscar Piastri, had suffered wheelspin, touched the white line at the edge of the track and skewed off at speed at the end of lap two.
The safety car was deployed and then the red flags came out with the governing FIA saying it would be at least 15 minutes before the restart as marshals fixed the tyre wall at Parabolica.
(Reporting by Alan BaldwinEditing by Christian Radnedge)
