Lewis Hamilton has leveled criticism at Ferrari, claiming the team operates without a clear set of "rules of engagement" after a dramatic clash with his teammate Charles Leclerc at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. The incident unfolded at the very start of the race when Hamilton attempted an aggressive inside move on the first corner, only to be forced onto the gravel on the exit of the chicane as Leclerc defended the inside line. The contact sent Hamilton tumbling down the escape road, dropping him from his fourth-place grid slot to tenth place.
He spent the remainder of the race fighting back through the field and ultimately crossed the line in sixth position. Leclerc, meanwhile, managed to keep his position at the front of the pack after the collision, holding onto third place for a short while before crashing on the second lap. The early retirement added to a disappointing weekend for Ferrari at their home event, leaving the team with a double blow – a lost podium for Leclerc and a reduced points haul for Hamilton. In the post‑race interview, Hamilton lamented the absence of a structured protocol within the team.
"It comes down to rules of engagement," he said, referencing his time at Mercedes where explicit guidelines governed on‑track battles between teammates. "When I was at Mercedes we had written rules. We never really had any major incidents – there were a few moments with Nico, but generally it was fine.
Here there are no rules. We need to address that." Hamilton, who is set to join Ferrari in 2025 after a long stint at Mercedes, emphasized that the lack of a formal agreement contributed to the chaos on the first lap. Former world champion Nico Rosberg, now a Sky Sports F1 analyst, sided with Hamilton, stating that the regulations are straightforward: if the driver on the outside is ahead at the apex, the driver on the inside must give room. "Lewis was ahead going into the turn, so Charles had to leave space.
He didn't, so it's 100 percent Charles' fault," Rosberg asserted. Martin Brundle, another Sky commentator, offered a more nuanced view. He pointed out that Hamilton's dive into Turn 1 was aggressive, but Leclerc was already ahead at the apex of Turn 2, making it difficult to assign a clear penalty. "Leclerc was far enough ahead on the inside.
I don't think he would have taken a penalty," Brundle said. He added that the understeer Leclerc experienced on the first lap was typical and not necessarily a breach of any rule. The race also featured a remarkable comeback from championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who surged from 19th on the grid to claim victory, extending his lead over Hamilton to 76 points. Antonelli's triumph pushed Mercedes into a one‑two finish, with George Russell taking second place.
The result widened the gap between the two Mercedes drivers and the Ferrari pair, leaving Hamilton 10 points behind Russell. Before the race, speculation swirled about whether Ferrari might prioritize Hamilton over Leclerc given Hamilton's larger points deficit.
After the race, when asked if he should receive preferential treatment, Hamilton replied, "We are too far past that already. It's too late now.
I lost a lot of points today. We'll keep pushing for the rest of the season, but they are ahead of us now." Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur cautioned against premature team orders. He referenced last year’s McLaren situation, where Oscar Piastri led the championship early on but was eventually overtaken by teammate Lando Norris and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
"The outcome of the first corners is not good for the team," Vasseur said. "It would be too early to decide before Monza. We still have time to discuss with the drivers." Leclerc admitted that both drivers had taken the early battle too far, but he questioned who was fueling the narrative of a teammate rivalry. He recalled the previous Grand Prix at Zandvoort, where Hamilton felt hampered by Leclerc's different strategy.
"I don't know who's forcing that narrative that we're against each other," Leclerc said. "At Zandvoort there were already too many talks. Here we went too far – I tried to take the tightest line at Turn 2 but it wasn't enough." Hamilton also expressed frustration with Ferrari's strategic choices during the race.
He criticized the tyre selection after the early red flag and the decision not to pit under the virtual safety car (VSC). "It's one of the harder things to swallow today," he told Sky Sports F1. "I gave it everything, but we lacked straight‑line speed and became a sitting duck. I think we should have been on the hard tyre after the restart, but then we would have needed to overtake more people because we were further back than we should have been.
I expected a VSC pit stop, but it didn't happen, and I ran out of tyres." Vasseur explained that Ferrari's deficiency in straight‑line speed makes extra pit stops risky. "We were 10 seconds behind Max before the VSC and finished 10 seconds behind," he noted. "If you pit you have to overtake, and overtaking is not our favourite topic.
It would have been more difficult." Looking ahead, the Formula 1 calendar moves to Madrid for the Spanish Grand Prix at the brand‑new Madring circuit. All sessions will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with streaming available through NOW, offering a contract‑free option that can be cancelled at any time. The upcoming race will provide another chance for Ferrari to test their internal dynamics and for Hamilton to chase the points he lost in Monza, while the championship battle between Mercedes and Red Bull continues to intensify.