Lewis Hamilton has questioned Ferrari’s handling of its internal driver rivalry after his costly opening-lap battle with Charles Leclerc at the Italian Grand Prix, revealing that the Maranello team currently has no defined rules of engagement between its drivers.
The two Ferrari team-mates came close to making contact at the first chicane in Monza, with Charles Leclerc taking third place while Lewis Hamilton was forced into the run-off area and dropped as far as 11th. The incident immediately compromised Ferrari’s hopes of exploiting the slipstream at the start of its home Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc clash at the start in Monza
With Ferrari starting near the front of the grid, the Italian team had a genuine opportunity to use the tow and challenge the cars ahead during the opening metres. Instead, the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at the first chicane effectively removed that possibility.
Charles Leclerc aggressively claimed third position and, as the pair negotiated the second part of the Variante del Rettifilo, Lewis Hamilton was pushed towards the escape road. The seven-time world champion consequently fell to 11th place, leaving Ferrari with significant ground to recover almost immediately.
It was far from an ideal way to manage the start of Ferrari’s home race, particularly during a weekend in which the Scuderia had already appeared to be struggling for performance.
Lewis Hamilton unhappy with Ferrari’s lack of rules of engagement
Speaking to the media after the race, Lewis Hamilton made clear that he believed the incident had hurt Ferrari significantly.
“It was very negative for the team and put us quite far back in the standings,” Lewis Hamilton explained. “You know, I don’t race dirty. I’ve always raced cleanly and fairly, and I’ve always left space. So there’s no need to worry about me. I came into the team and I’ve always tried to be respectful and not put the team at risk.”
The British driver then turned his attention to the way Ferrari currently manages the rivalry between himself and Charles Leclerc, suggesting that the absence of clearly defined rules is something the team will need to address.
“That’s all I can say as far as I’m concerned. You have to speak to Fred about the decisions that are made here,” Lewis Hamilton continued. “It all comes down to the rules of engagement. When I was at Mercedes, we had written rules of engagement. So we never really had major problems, maybe a couple of times with Nico, but most of the time everything went well.”
Hamilton compares Ferrari approach with his Mercedes years
Lewis Hamilton’s comparison with Mercedes underlined the difference he sees between his former team and his current environment. During his years at Mercedes, Hamilton explained that clear written guidelines governed how the drivers were expected to race one another, limiting the risk of internal incidents damaging the team’s result.
At Ferrari, according to Hamilton, no equivalent framework currently exists.
“Here, on the other hand, there are no rules,” Lewis Hamilton added. “I think it’s something we’ll have to try to resolve.”
The comments place further attention on how Ferrari intends to manage Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc when the two find themselves fighting directly on track. Team principal Fred Vasseur has already been at the centre of the discussion surrounding the Monza clash between Ferrari’s drivers, while Hamilton has now made his preference for a clearer framework explicit.
After an Italian Grand Prix start that cost both drivers valuable track position, the question for Ferrari is whether more formal rules of engagement will now be introduced to prevent similar situations from damaging the team again.
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