Lewis Hamilton has publicly accused Ferrari of operating without clear "rules of engagement" following a dramatic first‑lap incident with his team‑mate Charles Leclerc at the Italian Grand Prix. The controversy began when Hamilton, starting fourth on the grid, dove on the inside of Leclerc into the first corner. While Hamilton managed to get ahead momentarily, Leclerc defended the inside line and forced Hamilton off the track onto the gravel at the exit of the chicane. The manoeuvre dropped Hamilton to tenth place, and he spent the remainder of the race fighting back to finish sixth.

Leclerc, who initially held third after the contact, suffered a crash on lap two and retired, leaving the Scuderia with a disappointing home‑race showing. After the race, Hamilton said, "I think it comes down to rules of engagement. When I was at Mercedes we had written rules of engagement. We never really, really had it too bad.

There was a moment between me and Nico a couple of times, but more often not, it was good. Here, there are no rules.

We need to address that." Hamilton, who is set to join Ferrari in 2025, implied that the lack of an internal code contributed to the incident. Former world champion Nico Rosberg weighed in, siding with Hamilton. Rosberg explained the rule as simple: if the driver on the outside reaches the apex first, the driver on the inside must give room. "Lewis was ahead going in, so Charles has to leave room.

He didn’t, so it’s 100 per cent Charles' fault," he said. Martin Brundle offered a different perspective, noting that Hamilton’s aggressive move into Turn 1 and Leclerc’s position at the apex of Turn 2 made the situation more nuanced.

Brundle observed, "Leclerc was far enough ahead on the inside of the corner there. I don’t think he would have taken a penalty. Lewis dived down the inside into the first apex, fair enough, that’s motor racing.

Leclerc, I think at the apex, was far enough ahead, and on the inside – which is another key element. Leclerc just understeers wide. He turns the wheel and the car didn’t bite, and that’s very normal on the first lap.

I don’t believe he would have been penalised." The race itself was dominated by championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who surged from 19th on the grid to claim a stunning victory, extending his lead over Hamilton to 76 points. Mercedes completed a one‑two, with George Russell finishing second, pushing the Ferrari driver further behind in the standings. The result also reignited debate over whether Ferrari should prioritize Hamilton over Leclerc given the points gap.

Hamilton, when asked if he should have team‑order priority, replied, "We are too far past that already. It’s too late for that now. I lost a lot of points today to those guys. We will do our best to keep pushing the rest of the season but they are out now, out ahead of us." Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur cautioned against premature team orders, citing last year’s McLaren experience where Oscar Piastri led the championship early on but was eventually overtaken by Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.

Vasseur said, "For sure, the outcome of the first corners is not good for the team. Now, to see if we have a team order or whatever, I think the good comparison that I made was that last year, Piastri was leading McLaren at this stage of the season and if McLaren put everything on Piastri, Max Verstappen would have been champion.

For sure, at one stage you have to take a decision but I think it was too early to take a decision before Monza. Now we have time to discuss with the guys." Leclerc admitted that both drivers had taken the early battle too far but questioned who was "forcing" a narrative that pits the two teammates against each other. He referenced the previous race in Zandvoort, where Hamilton was frustrated by being held up by Leclerc on different strategies, saying, "I don’t really know who is forcing that narrative that we are one against the other.

I mean, honestly, Zandvoort, there were way too many talks already. Here, it’s true though that we went too far. I think Lewis in Turn 1, then Turn 2, I tried to do the tightest corner possible, but that was just not enough – and doing it here is not good." Hamilton also expressed disappointment with Ferrari’s strategic choices during the race. He questioned the tyre compound selection after an early red flag and criticized the decision not to pit him under a virtual safety car.

"It’s one of the harder ones to swallow today," he told Sky Sports F1. "I was definitely hoping for more. I gave it absolutely everything. We just didn’t have the speed on the straights and we were mostly a sitting duck to the guys around me.

We will look internally and try and figure out what we could have done better. I felt we should have been on the hard tyre on the restart but we also would have had to overtake people, because we were further back than we were supposed to be. I thought they were going to stop us under the VSC but they didn’t, so I ran out of tyres." Vasseur explained that Ferrari’s lack of straight‑line speed made additional pit stops risky, especially when compared to the pace of Antonelli and Verstappen, who finished third.

"We were 10 seconds behind Max before the VSC and we finished 10 seconds behind," Vasseur said. "If you do this pit, you have to overtake and overtaking is not our favourite topic. It would have been more difficult." The weekend’s drama sets the stage for the next round in Madrid, where the new Madring circuit will host the Spanish Grand Prix.

All sessions will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with streaming available through NOW, offering a contract‑free, cancel‑anytime option.