Nico Rosberg believes Ferrari are taking an unnecessary risk by allowing Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to race without more detailed rules of engagement, arguing that the approach could create further problems after their controversial clash at Monza.
The issue came into focus at Ferrari’s home Grand Prix when Leclerc squeezed Hamilton onto the gravel during the opening lap. The seven-time world champion lost valuable positions before recovering to sixth, while Leclerc’s race ended in a crash two laps later. The incident intensified the debate over how Fred Vasseur should manage two competitive drivers during a season in which every lost point has mattered.
Hamilton subsequently questioned Ferrari’s approach, contrasting it with the system Mercedes used during his years alongside Rosberg. Their rivalry became one of the most intense intra-team battles of the modern Formula 1 era, and Mercedes responded by establishing detailed boundaries governing how its drivers could fight on track.
Nico Rosberg urges Ferrari to introduce rules of engagement
Speaking to Sky Sports, Nico Rosberg admitted he was surprised that Ferrari had not taken similar precautions with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. In his view, failing to anticipate possible disputes and establish more detailed rules before incidents occur represents a significant mistake.
Rosberg drew directly on his Mercedes experience, explaining that the preparation carried out by the team under Toto Wolff had been important in reducing the risk of disagreements escalating between team-mates. The more clearly those situations were discussed in advance, he suggested, the easier it became to manage conflicts when they arose during races.
Ferrari, by contrast, are continuing to give Hamilton and Leclerc considerable freedom on track. Rosberg believes leaving responsibility almost entirely with the drivers creates the conditions for future disputes and argued that the Scuderia would be better served by establishing clear rules before another costly incident develops.
The Monza episode has already produced several conversations inside Maranello. Hamilton discussed Ferrari’s approach to team rules after the clash with Leclerc, while the Monegasque later reviewed his own role in the incident.
Rosberg believes Charles Leclerc recognised his Monza mistake
Rosberg also addressed Leclerc’s response after the Italian Grand Prix. He did not believe a lengthy internal discussion was necessarily required for the Ferrari driver to understand what had happened.
From Rosberg’s assessment of the incident, Hamilton was slightly ahead as the pair approached the apex, despite being positioned on the outside. Leclerc then made significant contact with his team-mate and forced him away from the track, which Rosberg considered excessive.
He therefore believes Leclerc reviewed the incident himself, recognised that he had gone too far and concluded that an apology was appropriate. Rosberg gave the Monegasque credit for taking responsibility, while also stressing that situations of this kind are easier to handle when a team actively manages the relationship between its drivers.
The aftermath was also addressed inside Ferrari, with the team discussing what Charles Leclerc acknowledged after the contact with Lewis Hamilton. The entire home-race weekend, which proved damaging for both drivers, can be revisited through our 2026 Italian Grand Prix coverage.
Fred Vasseur faced further pressure after Ferrari’s Monza setback
The consequences of the Italian Grand Prix extended beyond the immediate Hamilton-Leclerc disagreement. Ralf Schumacher later suggested that Fred Vasseur appeared visibly annoyed at the following race in Madrid after a Monza weekend that had damaged Ferrari’s championship position.
The contact between the two cars did nothing to help the Scuderia’s title ambitions, yet Vasseur has continued without imposing conventional team orders. That has kept the debate alive over whether Ferrari need a more formal framework for situations in which Hamilton and Leclerc find themselves fighting directly.
Schumacher’s observations about the Ferrari team principal after Monza added another dimension to the discussion, with Vasseur’s reaction examined in more detail after the German suggested the Ferrari boss appeared unusually affected by the setback.
Hamilton’s retirement at the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid subsequently reduced the immediate need for Ferrari to consider prioritising one driver over the other. With the team now considered likely to be out of the championship battle, the question of establishing a clear number one has become less urgent than it was before the race.
The Briton’s race ended because of a technical problem, with Ferrari later identifying the cause of Lewis Hamilton’s Madrid brake failure. The retirement nevertheless prevented the team from converting another potentially strong race into a major result.
Rosberg says Ferrari strategy and communication remain the bigger weakness
For Rosberg, however, the driver-management question forms part of a wider Ferrari problem. Speaking on The F1 Show, the 2016 world champion argued that strategy and communication continue to be persistent weaknesses for the Maranello team.
He questioned why Ferrari still appear to endure complicated weekends despite possessing a car with competitive potential. In Rosberg’s assessment, the SF-26 is close enough on outright pace to challenge consistently for victories, but the team are not always assembling all the necessary elements cleanly across a race weekend.
Madrid was another example in his view. Rosberg believed Hamilton had been on course for a comfortable second place before his retirement. He argued that Max Verstappen would have been required to allow the Ferrari through, which would have left Hamilton positioned behind eventual winner Kimi Antonelli.
That potential result reinforced Rosberg’s belief that Ferrari are not far away in performance terms. His concern is instead that operational execution, strategic decisions and communication continue to prevent the team from maximising the pace available to it.
The wider championship situation following Madrid can be tracked through the current Formula 1 driver standings, with Ferrari’s recent setbacks having made the remaining title challenge increasingly difficult.
Ferrari must solve more than the Hamilton-Leclerc rivalry
Rosberg’s warning therefore goes beyond simply deciding whether Hamilton or Leclerc should receive priority. His argument is that clearer preparation between team-mates could remove one potential source of conflict while Ferrari work on the broader strategy and communication problems he believes continue to cost them opportunities.
The Monza collision demonstrated how quickly an internal battle can hurt both drivers, while Madrid showed that even strong race pace can produce little reward when other elements go wrong. With Ferrari close enough to fight near the front but struggling to consistently turn that potential into results, Rosberg believes improving how the team manages these situations remains one of its most important challenges.
Leave a Reply