Ferrari began the Italian Grand Prix with both cars on the second row. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton had a realistic opportunity to challenge Pierre Gasly and George Russell into the first chicane, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli was starting at the back after an engine penalty.
Two laps later, Leclerc’s race was over and Hamilton had fallen outside the points. The first Ferrari home race of the season had changed before the field completed its second competitive lap.
A round at BetWright casino reaches a result and then makes way for the next one. Formula 1 does not offer such a clean reset. Ferrari will carry the consequences of Monza into the constructors’ championship, where Mercedes now lead by 122 points. The team cannot recover that deficit through one exceptional Sunday. It needs both cars to score heavily and consistently.
Ferrari created its own problem at the first corner
Leclerc started third, with Hamilton alongside him in fourth. Both had chosen the soft tyre, giving them the possibility of attacking immediately while Gasly and Russell started on mediums.
The opportunity became an intra-team fight. Leclerc and Hamilton went side by side into the first chicane, with Hamilton forced through the gravel and dropping outside the top ten.
Hamilton made his frustration clear over the radio, saying that Leclerc had pushed him off. The incident did not eliminate either driver, but it compromised Ferrari’s strongest chance of placing two cars near the front.
Leclerc initially continued in third and then passed Gasly for second at the opening chicane on lap two. Gasly fought back into the following chicane and reclaimed the place.
That exchange left Leclerc under pressure through the next section of the lap. He held several slides before losing control at the exit of Curva Alboreto and hitting the barriers heavily.
Leclerc climbed out without assistance, but Ferrari had lost one car and brought out a red flag. The team’s promising second row had produced one retirement and a difficult recovery drive for Hamilton.
The soft tyres encouraged an attack Ferrari did not need
Starting both cars on soft tyres made sense if Ferrari intended to gain positions immediately. The compound offered more grip at the start, but the strategic advantage depended on the drivers using it without creating unnecessary risk.
Ferrari did not need its drivers to settle the running order between themselves at the first corner. Gasly and Russell were the targets ahead, while the faster cars behind still had a long race in which to attack.
Allowing both Ferraris to race freely gave Leclerc the opportunity to hold third, but it left Hamilton on the gravel. The seven-time world champion then had to use his tyres while passing slower cars rather than staying with the leading group.
The red flag gave Hamilton a chance to recover strategically. He restarted on mediums and climbed through the order, reaching fourth before later losing ground to Antonelli, Max Verstappen and the McLarens.
His eventual sixth place recovered eight points. It was still a limited return after starting fourth at a circuit where Ferrari needed to reduce Mercedes’ championship advantage.
Clearer guidance before the start could have protected both cars. Ferrari did not necessarily need to impose a fixed order, but the drivers could have been instructed to leave each other enough space through the opening chicane.
Monza produced Ferrari’s lowest score of the season
Ferrari collected only eight points in Italy, its smallest total across the first 13 Grands Prix of 2026.
That result followed 31 points at Zandvoort, 22 in Hungary, 30 in Belgium and a season-high 51 at Silverstone. Ferrari has shown that it can score strongly when both cars reach the finish and take advantage of changing race conditions.
The problem is the size of the drop when one side of the garage fails to contribute. Mercedes scored 43 points at Monza after Antonelli won and Russell finished second. Ferrari lost 35 points to its main rival in a single afternoon.
Mercedes now have 468 points, while Ferrari sit second with 346. McLaren are third on 287, so Ferrari must also protect a 59-point advantage rather than concentrating entirely on the team ahead.
The constructors’ championship rewards the combined performance of both drivers. Hamilton finishing sixth cannot compensate for Leclerc scoring nothing when both Mercedes drivers occupy the top two positions.
Ferrari’s remaining objective therefore involves raising its minimum return. Another weekend with one retirement and the other car outside the top five would make the Mercedes gap extremely difficult to close.
Hamilton remains Ferrari’s stronger championship option
Hamilton is third in the drivers’ standings with 191 points. Russell is only ten points ahead, although Antonelli has opened a much larger lead on 267.
Leclerc sits fifth with 155 points. His Monza retirement left him 36 points behind his teammate and 112 behind Antonelli.
Hamilton’s position gives Ferrari a reason to prioritise clean points rather than aggressive gambles. The drivers’ title may require Antonelli to suffer poor results, but second place remains within immediate reach.
Leclerc’s season should not be reduced to the crash at Monza. He had qualified ahead of Hamilton and put himself into second place briefly on lap two. His speed was clear.
The mistake was costly because of the circumstances. Ferrari were at home, both cars had started near the front and Antonelli appeared to be out of position after his grid penalty. It was the type of race in which a championship challenger must recognise the value of finishing.
Hamilton’s recovery showed a different approach. After being forced wide, he worked back into contention and avoided turning an early setback into a retirement. Sixth was disappointing, but it prevented Ferrari leaving Monza without points.
Ferrari’s pace was not enough to challenge Mercedes
The opening laps made the accident the main story, but Hamilton’s later performance raised another concern. Once the race settled, Ferrari did not have the pace to fight Antonelli or Russell for victory.
Antonelli climbed rapidly after starting 19th and reached the lead before the middle of the race. He later used a Virtual Safety Car to change onto fresh mediums, caught Russell and completed the winning pass on lap 50.
Hamilton ran as high as fourth but could not keep Antonelli behind. He also lost positions during the later battles involving Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Ferrari therefore cannot assume that Leclerc would have challenged for victory had he remained in the race. A podium may have been possible, but Mercedes controlled the decisive phases and managed its tyres more effectively.
The gap is important because operational improvement alone will not solve the championship problem. Ferrari needs clean weekends, but it also needs enough race pace to turn qualifying positions into podiums.
Strong single-lap performance gave the team an all-Ferrari second row. Over 53 laps, Hamilton finished more than 24 seconds behind Antonelli.
Madrid offers an immediate test of Ferrari’s response
Formula 1 moves directly to Madrid for the Spanish Grand Prix between 11 and 13 September. The new Madring circuit removes the benefit of extensive historical data, so practice work will carry extra value.
Ferrari must understand how quickly the tyres reach their working range and how the car behaves over longer runs. The team also needs to establish clear priorities if Hamilton and Leclerc qualify close together again.
That does not require Ferrari to prevent its drivers racing. It requires them to recognise when an intra-team battle threatens the team’s larger objective.
Hamilton has a realistic fight with Russell for second in the drivers’ standings. Leclerc needs a clean weekend to rebuild after Monza, while Ferrari cannot afford another major loss to Mercedes.
The new circuit could create strategy opportunities because every team will be learning. Safety Cars, tyre behaviour and overtaking difficulty may be less predictable than at established venues.
Ferrari should approach that uncertainty by controlling the elements it can. Both cars need to complete the first lap, avoid unnecessary contact and remain available when the race creates an opportunity.
Ferrari must stop turning opportunities into recoveries
Much of Ferrari’s Monza weekend was spent creating a strong position. The team qualified both cars on the second row and selected an attacking tyre for the start.
Within minutes, that preparation had been replaced by damage limitation. Leclerc was out and Hamilton was trying to recover the places lost during their first-corner fight.
Mercedes demonstrated the opposite pattern. Antonelli began 19th, managed his way through the field and used the Virtual Safety Car to gain a strategic advantage. Russell converted a front-row start into second place. Even when the two Mercedes drivers fought closely, both remained in the race.
Ferrari’s eight points at Monza did not end its season. They did reveal why the 122-point deficit exists despite having two drivers inside the top five of the championship.
The team has enough speed to create opportunities. Its next task is to make sure those opportunities survive beyond the opening laps.
Leave a Reply