News Summary
- Ferrari’s disastrous Italian Grand Prix ended with Charles Leclerc’s early retirement and Lewis Hamilton recovering to sixth after their opening-lap clash.
- The Scuderia is no longer fighting for either 2026 championship, leaving internal conflicts even harder to justify as McLaren continues to close in.
- Fred Vasseur now faces renewed pressure after Hamilton publicly called for changes in the way Ferrari operates and communicates.
It will take a very long time for Italy to digest what Ferrari produced at Monza. The team’s home Grand Prix was supposed to be a separate kind of championship for the Scuderia, even in a season in which it has no realistic chance of fighting for either of Formula 1’s 2026 titles.
It is important to make one thing clear: Ferrari never genuinely expected to turn Monza into a dream weekend in front of a record crowd of tifosi. The high-speed circuit has traditionally created headaches for the red cars because its characteristics do not always suit Ferrari’s strengths, while the 2026 regulations have made the gap to Mercedes even more visible through their heavy reliance on battery deployment.
Even so, Monza is always treated differently by Ferrari. The team leaves no stone unturned to prepare for its home race, precisely because Sunday cannot be allowed to turn into a nightmare.
Well, that is exactly what happened.
Charles Leclerc, who started third, chose to defend so aggressively against Lewis Hamilton that the two made contact, sending Hamilton onto the gravel. The Monegasque’s own race then unravelled one lap later when he lost control of the SF-26 through the circuit’s fastest section, the Parabolica leading onto the main straight, and hit the barriers at around 230 km/h.
Leclerc’s crash was, of course, one of those unfortunate moments that can happen in racing. It was an isolated mistake, and thankfully Charles recovered quickly after the impact, despite the scare caused by the vision issue in his right eye following a hit of around 50G.
The bigger problem, however, is that Leclerc and Hamilton once again found themselves at the centre of an entirely avoidable confrontation — for the second consecutive race. And that makes it difficult to argue that Ferrari has genuinely moved beyond the internal crisis that has repeatedly resurfaced over the past few years.
Ferrari has no championship to fight for
There are some uncomfortable facts Ferrari has to confront, no matter how painful they may be: there is no title fight for the Scuderia in 2026.
Hamilton briefly saw a glimmer of hope at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona after taking a risky three-stop strategy and securing his first victory in Ferrari colours. It was only the seventh race of the season, and championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli had suffered a reliability failure just a few laps from the finish.
Why not dream?
The problem is that Ferrari’s equipment leaves Hamilton and Leclerc dependent on a perfect weekend in virtually every respect. That has not happened since Barcelona. Aerodynamic upgrades have moved the SF-26 forward, but they have not been enough to put either Ferrari driver on equal terms with Antonelli and George Russell over the course of the season.
That alone explains much of what Ferrari has produced in recent races. But the Dutch Grand Prix also brought back a problem that had already appeared several times since last year.
Leclerc is an extremely combative driver who makes rivals work hard for every position. And with Ferrari having no realistic chance of challenging for either world championship in 2026, there is little reason to expect him to simply surrender a position to benefit Hamilton.
Still, the impression is that the Monegasque has sometimes lacked a sense of the bigger picture.
At Zandvoort, Leclerc’s refusal to follow Ferrari’s call to pit cost Hamilton time — time that could have been converted into a podium and allowed Ferrari to beat at least one of the Mercedes cars.
That matters even in a season without a title fight. McLaren has been gaining momentum since Lando Norris’ victory in Hungary, and the Constructors’ Championship remains highly significant for both teams.
Monza turned an internal fight into a Ferrari disaster
In Italy, the situation was even worse because Leclerc’s aggressive defence of a position that could easily have been recovered later in the lap did not merely damage Hamilton’s race.
It damaged Ferrari’s race.
And that is the point.
At Monza, it should not matter who is wearing the red overalls. The priority is Ferrari. As perfectly illustrated by the Disney-Pixar movie Cars, which was celebrated throughout the weekend through the presence of the Italian characters Luigi and Guido: they simply “love Ferrari.”
Hamilton was right to be frustrated by what happened. This is not really about favouring one driver over the other, as the Zandvoort situation could reasonably be interpreted.
This was about an early, unnecessarily aggressive battle that made Ferrari look foolish at its home race.
And that is extremely difficult to accept in Maranello.
The pressure returns to Vasseur
Which brings us to the central issue behind everything that happened: the management of Fred Vasseur.
It is hardly the first time the Frenchman has found himself under pressure as Ferrari team principal. The Scuderia still lives in the shadow of the dominant era built by Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, Michael Schumacher and the rest of that championship-winning operation.
But what happened at Monza — particularly when combined with Hamilton’s increasingly direct criticism of Vasseur — once again exposed questions over whether the team is being managed effectively.
Hamilton has already called for changes in the way Ferrari operates and communicates, while making clear that the responsibility ultimately comes from the top.
Again, this is not about preventing Leclerc and Hamilton from racing. They should have the freedom to compete.
The problem is allowing an incident like Monza to happen under the justification that team orders will only come “at the right time”. Vasseur has defended that approach, saying Ferrari does not yet want to establish a hierarchy between its drivers.
Before that moment arrives, however, Vasseur needs to sit both drivers down for a serious conversation and establish some boundaries.
There are, in theory, still ten Grands Prix remaining in 2026. Ferrari could regain the upper hand at some of them, particularly at a slow street circuit such as Singapore or on more demanding tracks such as Interlagos.
There is therefore still time to soften the damage caused by the images from Monza.
But it will take a very, very long time for Italy to forget the mess Ferrari made of its home race.
Formula 1 returns this weekend, September 11-13, for the Spanish Grand Prix at Madrid’s new street circuit. GRANDE PRÊMIO will follow all the action from the 14th round of the 2026 season.
FAQ
Is Ferrari still fighting for the 2026 F1 championship?
No. Ferrari is not realistically fighting for either the Drivers’ or Constructors’ Championship in 2026. The team is instead focused on improving its competitiveness and protecting its position against rivals such as McLaren.
What happened between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at Monza?
The Ferrari teammates battled through the opening chicane, with Leclerc defending aggressively and contact sending Hamilton onto the gravel. Hamilton recovered to finish sixth, while Leclerc crashed at the Parabolica one lap later and retired.
Is Fred Vasseur under pressure at Ferrari?
Vasseur faces renewed scrutiny after Ferrari’s disappointing home race and Hamilton’s calls for changes to the team’s operation and communication. Ferrari has not announced any decision to replace its team principal.
