Juan Pablo Montoya believes Charles Leclerc failed to show sufficient respect towards Lewis Hamilton as a team-mate during their controversial opening-lap fight at the Italian Grand Prix, arguing that Ferrari now needs an internal discussion about how its drivers race one another.
The two Ferrari drivers started from the second row at Monza but their hopes of a strong home result quickly unravelled. Hamilton attacked Leclerc around the outside into the opening chicane, only for the Monegasque to defend firmly and leave his team-mate heading into the gravel. The seven-time world champion dropped from fourth to 10th and complained that Leclerc had pushed him off the circuit.
Juan Pablo Montoya criticises Charles Leclerc over Lewis Hamilton Monza clash
The stewards noted the opening-lap incident, but Ferrari’s afternoon deteriorated further before the situation had time to settle. Leclerc subsequently crashed at the Parabolica, triggering a red flag and leaving the Scuderia with only Hamilton still in the race.
Hamilton was seen shaking his head in the pit lane during the stoppage as Ferrari personnel absorbed a disastrous beginning to a Grand Prix in which a podium had appeared possible. Instead, one SF-26 was eliminated after only three laps and the other ultimately lacked the performance to compete with Mercedes and McLaren.
The Briton eventually recovered to sixth place, although his frustration continued later in the race. Hamilton was unhappy with Ferrari’s strategy after the team kept him on track during a Virtual Safety Car period, adding another layer to a difficult afternoon for the Maranello outfit.
For Montoya, however, Ferrari’s most pressing concern is how its two drivers are dealing with each other on track. Speaking on F1 TV’s post-race show, the former Formula 1 race winner responded dismissively when the relationship between Hamilton and Leclerc was raised, questioning whether there was much of a relationship to discuss at all.
Montoya says Ferrari needs serious talks with both drivers
Montoya argued that the situation now requires intervention from Ferrari management, and not simply from team principal Fred Vasseur. In his view, figures higher within the organisation should also be involved in bringing Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton together for a serious discussion at Maranello.
The Colombian focused particularly on Leclerc’s explanation that he had raced Hamilton in the same way he would have fought any other rival. Montoya believes that approach overlooks an important distinction: Hamilton is Leclerc’s team-mate, meaning both drivers have a responsibility not only towards themselves but also towards Ferrari.
His criticism centres on respect rather than a belief that team-mates should avoid racing altogether. Montoya maintained that Leclerc should have taken greater account of the fact that both cars represented the same team when deciding how aggressively to defend his position.
At the same time, Montoya openly admitted that he probably would have behaved exactly as Leclerc did during his own racing career and would consequently have found himself in similar trouble. He acknowledged that he had rarely considered the wider team picture as a driver and had instead tended to prioritise his own interests.
That contrast is important to Montoya’s argument. He believes modern Formula 1 drivers are generally expected to consider the broader consequences of an intra-team battle to a greater extent than he did during his own career.
Why Monza made the Ferrari team-mate battle even more significant
The location only intensified the situation. Montoya highlighted the significance of racing at Monza in front of the Tifosi, where beating the driver in the other Ferrari carries considerable personal importance. That pressure, in his assessment, contributed to the intensity with which Leclerc defended his position.
The opening-lap confrontation has already increased scrutiny of Ferrari’s approach to team orders between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Vasseur has so far resisted establishing a firm hierarchy between the pair and prefers to allow both drivers to race while the championship situation permits it.
Leclerc, meanwhile, has subsequently rejected suggestions of a feud with Hamilton, maintaining that the two Ferrari drivers are not working against one another despite the increasingly intense moments they have shared on track.
Montoya links Leclerc’s aggression to his later Monza crash
Montoya also connected Leclerc’s determination to defend and push at the limit with the sequence that eventually ended his race. He noted that the Ferrari driver was attacking extremely hard before running wide through the Parabolica, getting into the dirt and catching the area outside the track on corner exit.
Leclerc then overcorrected the car and crashed into the barriers. Further details of the accident have since shown the severity of Leclerc’s high-speed Monza crash, which completed a disastrous opening phase of Ferrari’s home Grand Prix.
From Montoya’s perspective, the sequence reinforced why Ferrari cannot simply move on without addressing the way its drivers are competing against each other. He believes the team needs to stop the situation from escalating and establish a clearer understanding between Hamilton and Leclerc before another intra-team fight carries an equally heavy sporting cost.
The debate is particularly sensitive because both drivers remain central to Ferrari’s ambitions. Leclerc has been part of the Scuderia since 2019 and remains one of the defining figures of the current team, with his latest developments followed in the dedicated Charles Leclerc Ferrari news section. Hamilton, meanwhile, arrived as a seven-time world champion with his own expectations of competing at the front.
Monza demonstrated how quickly those individual ambitions can collide. Ferrari entered its home Grand Prix with both cars starting near the front and the possibility of a major result in front of the Tifosi. Within three laps, Hamilton had been sent down the order and Leclerc was out of the race, leaving Montoya convinced that the Scuderia now needs to confront the issue internally.
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