Charles Leclerc wanted to deny the idea that Lewis Hamilton and he were not working well together at Ferrari while nevertheless acknowledging that the two drivers went “too far”.
Ferrari obviously hoped for a very different scenario for its home Grand Prix: after starting together from the second row, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton found themselves fighting from the first corner.
Hamilton attempted an aggressive move on the inside of his teammate. Leclerc then had to change his trajectory approaching the second corner, before coming into contact again with the Briton.
The seven-time world champion ultimately found himself with no space on the exit and had to go through the gravel. Hamilton dropped from fourth to tenth position and immediately expressed his displeasure on the radio. The situation worsened a few moments later.
A catastrophic start to the race
At the end of the second lap, Leclerc lost control of his SF-26 exiting the Parabolica before crashing violently into the barriers. The condition of the Ferrari and the repairs needed on the barriers led to the red flag being shown.
For the Scuderia, hopes of shining in front of the Tifosi were seriously compromised in just two laps: Leclerc was out while Hamilton had lost several positions after going through the gravel. The first lap incident naturally revived questions that arose at Zandvoort about the relationship between the two Ferrari drivers and their ability to work together.
Leclerc categorically rejects this interpretation: “I really don’t know who is trying to impose this idea that we are against each other. Honestly, at Zandvoort, there was already far too much discussion about this.”
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Just a racing incident?
Leclerc acknowledges, however, that limits were exceeded at Monza: “Here, it’s true that we went too far. I think Lewis, at turn 1… Then me at turn 2, I tried to take the corner as tight as possible, but it simply wasn’t enough. And doing that here is not good.”
The Monegasque thus distinguishes between the incident on track and a possible deterioration of his relationship with Hamilton. In his view, their battle on the first lap does not show that the two men refuse to collaborate or that an internal war has started at Ferrari.
“At the first corner it was way too tight with Lewis, unfortunately, he regrets. I don’t know if there was contact, I was biting quite a bit on the inside curb and I tried to negotiate the corner, but without tightening the line enough. I only saw what happened afterwards in my mirrors, which is never the ideal situation between two cars from the same team, especially here in Italy.”
A crash that leaves its mark
“As for the accident, it was quite intense, says Charles. I was a bit scared for my vision. More than a mental blow, it’s a physical one. The neck is fine. It’s just my vision that was a bit disturbed at the start. My right eye didn’t allow me to see very well, but now everything is fine. That was what worried me the most when getting out of the car.”
“Afterwards, I have some pains here and there, which is normal after an accident like this, he continues. I think between the first and second lap, I had a difference in how the power was delivered. We will look into that, but I don’t want to comment too much before checking the data and confirming it 100%. We will analyze that, but at the exit of the last corner on the first lap, I didn’t have much power: I had to lift off the throttle and put it back on, and on the second lap there was much more power, so we will see what happened.”
Leclerc thus admits a collective error in how the two Ferraris fought at Monza, but firmly rejects the narrative of a growing opposition with Hamilton. After an Italian Grand Prix that quickly turned into a disaster, the Scuderia will above all have to avoid this type of battle between its drivers costing it precious points again.
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