Ferrari saw its hopes of a major result at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix unravel in less than two laps at Monza. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton went wheel to wheel at the first chicane immediately after the start, with Hamilton ending up in the gravel before Leclerc suffered a heavy crash on the following lap and brought out the red flag.
Instead of attacking from the second row with both SF-26 cars, Ferrari found its home race severely compromised almost immediately. The Scuderia had entered Sunday with renewed hope after a difficult Monza qualifying session, but the opening moments of the Grand Prix produced an unexpected intra-team battle.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton fight at the first chicane
At the start, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc arrived side by side at the Variante del Rettifilo. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion was on the inside and braked late in an attempt to draw alongside his Ferrari team-mate.
Charles Leclerc refused to yield. As the cars changed direction back towards the left, the Monegasque did not leave Lewis Hamilton enough room on the outside, forcing the British driver into the gravel.
Hamilton immediately expressed his frustration over team radio: “Leclerc pushed me off!”
The incident cost Lewis Hamilton several positions and immediately disrupted a race in which Ferrari had hoped to use the strong starting positions of both cars to challenge at the front. Before the start, the Scuderia had been evaluating several possible Italian GP strategy options for Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, but those plans were quickly overtaken by events on track.
Charles Leclerc crashes heavily on lap two at Monza
The situation became dramatically worse for Ferrari on the second lap. At the exit of the Parabolica, Charles Leclerc lost control of his SF-26 and went heavily into the barriers.
The impact brought his Italian Grand Prix to an immediate end and made a red flag inevitable, with the race stopped while the Ferrari was recovered and the accident area dealt with.
It was a devastating conclusion to Charles Leclerc’s home race with Ferrari, particularly after the team had started the Grand Prix with both cars on the second row and genuine hopes of fighting for the podium.
Lewis Hamilton drops to eighth after chaotic Ferrari start
With Charles Leclerc out of the race, Ferrari’s hopes were left entirely with Lewis Hamilton. Following his trip through the gravel at the opening chicane, the seven-time world champion was set to restart from eighth position after the red-flag interruption.
Ferrari had therefore gone from having two cars positioned to attack near the front of the Italian Grand Prix to losing Charles Leclerc and seeing Lewis Hamilton pushed well down the order in the space of less than two racing laps.
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