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Ferrari arrived at Monza with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton sharing the second row, raising hopes of a strong result in the team’s most important weekend of the season. Instead, the Italian Grand Prix unravelled almost immediately.
The two drivers came together at the first chicane, and Leclerc’s race ended on the second lap after a huge crash at Parabolica. He escaped unhurt, but Ferrari was left with a wrecked SF-26 and the possibility of losing power-unit elements. After the red flag and restart, Hamilton recovered only to sixth — a result that offered little satisfaction to the Maranello camp or Team Principal Fred Vasseur.
“Tomorrow morning back at the factory we will prepare Madrid, and we'll come to Madrid with all the energy that we need to do a good result,” Vasseur said. “But be sure that we'll come back next week much stronger.”
The scale of Ferrari’s disappointment was explored further in Ferrari’s Monza fumble: is the Scuderia shooting itself in the foot?, which highlighted how the clash exposed the team’s weaknesses at its home event.
The opening-lap incident also revived the unresolved question of how Ferrari should balance its drivers’ interests. Hamilton made clear after the race that his World Championship ambitions require greater support and that the team’s rules of engagement must now be applied.
Vasseur declined to assess the incident before speaking to both drivers, but acknowledged that Ferrari may eventually have to prioritise one title contender. He argued that acting before Monza would have been premature, while conceding that the team now has time to discuss the issue with Leclerc and Hamilton.
“For sure, at one stage you have to take a decision,” Vasseur said. “But I think it was too early to take a decision before Monza.”
Even without the first-lap chaos, Vasseur believes Ferrari faced a difficult afternoon. The upgraded power unit provided a useful step, but the car remained vulnerable in a straight line. Hamilton struggled to attack and defend, while battery use in one section left Ferrari exposed on the next straight.
Vasseur said the problem was not deployment strategy but a lack of pure power. Attempts to compensate by changing deployment only shifted the disadvantage elsewhere, creating what he described as a “wrong spiral” during battles.
Madrid’s layout should suit Ferrari better, although Vasseur warned that expectations must wait until the team has fully digested Monza. For Ferrari, the next race offers an early opportunity to turn a painful home weekend into a meaningful response.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.