Juan Pablo Montoya has firmly backed Lewis Hamilton in the debate over Ferrari’s first-lap battle at the Italian Grand Prix, arguing that the seven-time world champion handled his attack on Charles Leclerc exactly as a champion should. The former Formula 1 driver placed responsibility for the Monza incident on Leclerc and believes Hamilton showed his team-mate a level of consideration that was not returned.
The Ferrari pair’s confrontation at the opening chicane has divided opinion since a disastrous home Grand Prix for the Scuderia. Hamilton attacked from the inside into Turn 1 after starting on the second row, but the positions changed through the sequence and the Briton found himself on the outside approaching Turn 2. Leclerc appeared to squeeze his team-mate beyond the edge of the circuit, sending Hamilton onto the gravel and dropping him to 10th place.
Juan Pablo Montoya backs Lewis Hamilton in Monza clash
Hamilton believed he had been pushed wide by his team-mate, although Ferrari had little time to react before the complexion of the race changed completely. Charles Leclerc crashed at Parabolica on lap three in an impact reported at 60G, leaving the seven-time world champion as the team’s only remaining car. Hamilton eventually recovered to sixth place, completing a disappointing afternoon for Ferrari.
The opening-lap fight has since produced sharply contrasting assessments. David Coulthard took the opposite view to Hamilton, arguing that the Briton had failed to learn from his 2021 collision with Max Verstappen at the same part of the circuit. The former Red Bull driver’s assessment added another dimension to the debate over Hamilton and Leclerc’s Monza first-lap battle.
Juan Pablo Montoya, however, interpreted the incident very differently. When asked by Mundo Deportivo whether the confrontation represented a clash of egos between the Ferrari drivers, the Colombian rejected that interpretation and instead focused on how each driver behaved while racing wheel-to-wheel.
Montoya believes Hamilton gave Leclerc enough room
Montoya argued that Lewis Hamilton had been in a position to make the situation far more difficult for Charles Leclerc at the first corner. In his view, Hamilton held the inside line while making the pass and could have allowed the car to run wider on exit, potentially forcing Leclerc off the circuit. Instead, Montoya believed the Ferrari newcomer deliberately left his team-mate enough space.
According to the former Williams and McLaren driver, Leclerc then responded differently when the roles changed. Montoya felt that the Monegasque opened his steering and forced Hamilton off, illustrating what he considered to be two contrasting approaches to racing a team-mate.
His assessment follows another recent intervention in which Montoya argued that Charles Leclerc showed Lewis Hamilton too little respect at Monza. He also maintained that Leclerc had broken what he regarded as one of Formula 1’s fundamental unwritten rules when fighting the other Ferrari.
Montoya referred to Leclerc’s own position that he had raced Hamilton in the same way he would have raced any other opponent. For the Colombian, that was central to the issue because he believed Hamilton had made a deliberate distinction between fighting another competitor and fighting the driver in the other Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc blamed entirely by Montoya
Asked directly whether he held Charles Leclerc responsible for what happened, Juan Pablo Montoya left no ambiguity in his assessment. He placed the blame entirely on the Monegasque and questioned what Hamilton could realistically have done differently during the sequence.
Montoya pointed out that the British driver had neither made contact nor forced another car out of the race. In his assessment, Hamilton executed the attack perfectly and displayed the judgement expected from a world champion, particularly because he managed the move without touching his team-mate.
The Colombian went further by arguing that Lewis Hamilton might have treated a rival differently. Had another driver occupied Leclerc’s position, Montoya believed Hamilton could have opened his steering and denied that opponent the opportunity to complete Turn 2. Because it was his Ferrari team-mate alongside him, however, Hamilton instead left additional room.
Montoya therefore viewed the incident as evidence that Hamilton treated Leclerc as a team-mate while, in his opinion, the same consideration was not shown in return. The contrasting interpretation is particularly significant given the wider concerns Montoya has raised about Leclerc’s battle with Hamilton.
Ferrari rules of engagement come under scrutiny
The disagreement over responsibility has also increased scrutiny of Ferrari’s management of its drivers. Hamilton criticised the team’s rules of engagement after the race, with the Monza incident becoming another example of the difficulty Fred Vasseur faces in managing two drivers fighting for their own championship interests.
Ferrari are unhappy with Fred Vasseur’s management of the pair following the Italian Grand Prix, and the situation adds to an already developing debate about whether clearer instructions are now required. The broader question of Ferrari’s team-order policy between Hamilton and Leclerc has become increasingly important as the season progresses.
The discussion is no longer limited to one first-corner incident. Hamilton and Leclerc are being judged not only on outright pace but also on how they race each other, how much room each is expected to leave and whether Ferrari should establish more explicit boundaries before another intra-team fight costs either driver valuable positions.
For Juan Pablo Montoya, though, the Monza case itself is clear. While other former drivers have questioned Hamilton’s judgement, the Colombian believes the seven-time world champion executed his move correctly, respected the fact that another Ferrari was alongside him and ultimately paid the price when that consideration was not reciprocated.
