If Monza was supposed to represent a crossroads for Ferrari’s ambitions, the 2026 Italian Grand Prix instead offered another indication that this could become a season of regrets for the Maranello team. That is particularly frustrating because the SF-26 has shown itself to be an aeromechanically competitive Formula 1 car at several circuits. At the Temple of Speed, however, Ferrari’s weaknesses came firmly to the surface.
Lewis Hamilton had already come close to being eliminated in Q2 during qualifying, while Pierre Gasly’s surprising but deserved pole position highlighted the strength of the Mercedes-AMG F1 M17 E Performance power unit. The race reinforced that competitive advantage, with both McLaren cars finishing ahead of the only Ferrari to reach the chequered flag. Even with flawless execution, the Scuderia appeared to have little realistic chance of fighting for the leading positions.
The power unit picture has been one of the central themes of Ferrari’s Monza weekend, with the SF-26 power unit deficit and Monza development helping to explain why the team faced such a difficult challenge on Formula 1’s fastest circuit.
Ferrari’s management vacuum fuels Lewis Hamilton-Charles Leclerc tension
Beyond the technical shortcomings, however, a more uncomfortable issue is emerging inside Ferrari. There is an increasingly strong impression that the team’s leadership, with Frédéric Vasseur at the centre, is struggling to control the growing rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
What happened between the two Ferrari drivers at the first chicane should not simply be dismissed as an ordinary racing incident. Lewis Hamilton’s renewed competitiveness has strengthened the belief that the seven-time world champion could still be the driver capable of returning Ferrari to the top of Formula 1. The British driver has also repeatedly stressed how hard he is pushing to improve numerous areas that extend beyond his responsibilities behind the wheel.
Whether through inability or by deliberate choice, Ferrari has opted to approach the situation as a team without imposing firm team orders in advance. That strategy is now becoming expensive both from a sporting and interpersonal perspective, with the relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc appearing to have deteriorated significantly.
The debate over Ferrari’s handling of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc has therefore moved beyond a simple question of which driver should receive priority. The issue is increasingly about whether sufficiently clear rules of engagement exist at all.
Ferrari cannot afford to leave every decision to its drivers
Formula 1 can be ruthless, but success often requires exactly that kind of pragmatism. If a team does not possess the outright fastest car, one of its few remaining opportunities is to maximise the combined result. Inevitably, that can sometimes mean sacrificing the ambitions of one driver in order to secure the best possible outcome for the team.
Rather than a clearly defined “free to race” philosophy, the impression at Ferrari is increasingly one of reluctance to issue precise instructions to its drivers. In an environment without firmly established rules of engagement, both competitors are naturally going to pursue their own interests.
Lewis Hamilton wants the team to recognise his stronger position in the championship, while Charles Leclerc has no intention of giving up ground as he attempts to reduce the deficit to his team-mate. The result has become increasingly uncomfortable for Ferrari.
Formula 1 has seen team-mates race aggressively against each other many times, particularly when a world championship is at stake. At Monza, however, hindsight makes the situation look even harder to justify because the potential reward available to Ferrari was relatively limited.
Frédéric Vasseur explains why Ferrari avoided team orders before Monza
After the race, Frédéric Vasseur referred to McLaren’s approach during the previous season when explaining Ferrari’s position on possible team orders.
“As far as possible team orders are concerned, I think a good comparison is last year. At this point in the season Oscar Piastri was ahead within McLaren and, if McLaren had put everything behind Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen would probably have become champion,” Frédéric Vasseur said.
“It is clear that at some point you have to make a decision, but I think before Monza it was still too early to do so. Now we have time to discuss it with the guys.”
Those comments inevitably raise another question: has Ferrari waited too long to have that conversation? Should there already be clearly codified rules of engagement that both drivers are required to follow, rather than the team having to intervene with individual reprimands after incidents have occurred?
Can Ferrari manage two drivers who both want number-one status?
Ferrari now has to determine whether it can effectively manage two drivers who both expect to operate as leading figures within the team, particularly when one of them may occasionally need to place the Scuderia’s wider interests above his own ambitions.
Lewis Hamilton’s difficult Monza weekend has already intensified scrutiny around the relationship between the two drivers, even though the seven-time world champion subsequently thanked the Ferrari tifosi and promised to keep fighting after the Italian Grand Prix.
The deeper concern is not simply that Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc want to beat one another. That is entirely natural for two elite Formula 1 drivers. The problem arises if Ferrari does not establish exactly what is permitted when their individual ambitions begin to conflict with the overall interests of the team.
For a Scuderia already dealing with performance limitations and trying to extract everything possible from the SF-26, allowing internal competition to become another source of lost opportunities is particularly costly. Ferrari’s wider technical battle with the SF-26 is difficult enough without adding uncertainty over how its two drivers should race each other.
Monza therefore exposed more than Ferrari’s technical limitations. It also brought its driver-management problem into sharper focus. At some stage Frédéric Vasseur and the team will have to decide where the boundaries lie, because allowing Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to establish those boundaries exclusively on track risks creating exactly the kind of internal conflict Ferrari can least afford.
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