Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton: The Aftermath of Monza—Possible New Dynamics at Ferrari
For Ferrari, the race at Monza could have significant consequences and repercussions for the future—at least as far as the 2026 championship is concerned. Charles Leclerc’s retirement sparked endless discussions and controversy, but the debate also centered on the battle after the start that forced Lewis Hamilton into a brief yet costly excursion into the gravel. The Briton now trails Kimi Antonelli by 76 points in the standings but holds a 36-point lead over his teammate. And this, reading between the lines of team principal Fred Vasseur’s statements, could lead to a historic and unprecedented situation as early as the upcoming Madrid Grand Prix.
“Certainly, the outcome of what happened at Turn 1 and Turn 2 isn’t positive for Ferrari, if that’s what the question was about. The best comparison I think I’ve made is with McLaren from last year. In 2025, around the time of the Monza race, Piastri was leading the standings, but if the team had bet everything on him, Max Verstappen would have become world champion. So we, too, will undoubtedly have to make a decision at some point. Before Monza, it would have been too early; now there’s time to discuss it,” Vasseur explained.
The impression, therefore, is that the focus is on a Ferrari with a first and second driver: the world championship standings suggest that Hamilton is the leader, with Leclerc supporting him—a scenario that, on paper, hasn’t occurred since 2019, when Sebastian Vettel was still at Ferrari. “So far, I’ve talked about it for two seconds with Lewis and not at all with Charles. I want to discuss it with them before I discuss it with you,” Vasseur then sidestepped the question. It’s possible, however, that as early as Madrid we’ll see a profoundly shifted dynamic between the two Ferrari drivers.
The circumstances surrounding the incident between the two Ferrari drivers have also sparked a lot of discussion among industry insiders. Nico Rosberg, speaking immediately after the incident to ‘Sky Sport,’ defended Hamilton while acknowledging the complexity of the situation: “Honestly, we all care about Charles, but unfortunately he made two mistakes in two laps here. In the first one, he should have left room for his teammate. Of course, Lewis entered the first chicane very aggressively—perhaps even a bit too much, given that he’s his teammate. But he didn’t block him at all; he left him room to pass, and everything was under control. Here, the rules state that Charles must leave room and not force his teammate—who is right there—off the track.” This interpretation carries significant weight in the internal debate within the Scuderia, especially given the decisions Vasseur will have to make.
The Monza weekend had already gotten off to a rocky start for Ferrari. On Saturday, in qualifying—which was surprisingly dominated by Pierre Gasly in the Alpine—Leclerc and Hamilton finished fourth and fifth, respectively, 218 and 225 thousandths of a second behind the French pole-sitter. A result that had already left a bitter taste in the mouths of the two Ferrari drivers. “I’m very disappointed, honestly. We didn’t measure up; there were a lot of mistakes and problems during qualifying. First with the engine, then with other issues afterward. I’ll still try to work some magic. I managed to do it in both 2019 and 2024: that’s my sole focus,” Leclerc had stated. Words that, in light of what happened in the race, sound even more bitter today.
Counterbalancing Ferrari’s dismal Sunday was Kimi Antonelli’s historic feat, which wrote one of the most remarkable chapters in the recent history of Italian motorsport. Starting from nineteenth on the grid due to a penalty for replacing his power unit, the 20-year-old from Bologna driving for Mercedes staged a sensational comeback to win the Italian Grand Prix in front of his home crowd. An unprecedented feat at Monza, which gave Italy its first victory in the home Grand Prix since Ludovico Scarfiotti’s win in 1966. “I realized the win was within my reach after the restart. I told myself: I have to win this, I have to win this. I believed in it, especially when I was behind George. I could see the whole crowd in the stands cheering me on, and that really fired me up,” said a visibly emotional Antonelli after the race.
Antonelli’s victory, combined with Hamilton’s sixth-place finish and Leclerc’s retirement, has thus further solidified the Mercedes driver’s lead in the overall standings. With a 76-point lead over the British Ferrari driver, the Bolognese driver appears increasingly in control of his own championship destiny. For the Maranello team, however, the countdown to Madrid has already begun: the coming hours will be decisive in determining whether and how the internal balance between the two Ferrari drivers will shift.
