“We’re at the Pope and Ferrari”

MONZA, Italy — Ferrari expected the Italian Grand Prix to go differently. Fans decked in the team’s iconic red lined the streets and grandstands. As Lewis Hamilton put it on Thursday: “To Italians, it’s the Pope and Ferrari, and pasta and pizza, and family.” Armed with an engine upgrade, the drivers hoped to challenge for the win at the circuit that means so much to their team.

Leclerc crashes, Hamilton hits the gravel

Instead, Charles Leclerc crashed heavily at the Parabolica on Lap 2, triggering a red flag. Before that, the two Ferrari drivers had come close to contact on the opening lap. Hamilton alleged over the radio that Leclerc “pushed me off” into the gravel at Turn 2, dropping him six places. “We’re definitely going to have it on after the race,” Hamilton said on team radio. The stewards took no action.

Leclerc later admitted: “With Lewis it was a way too close into Turn 1... I was quite a lot on the inside curve and tried to make the corner, which I didn’t do it tight enough.” Hamilton was blunter: “I was ahead in Turn 2, by the apex, I was ahead... here, there are no rules. We need to address that. When I was at Mercedes, we had written rules of engagement.”

A “devastating” result

Hamilton recovered to run as high as third but, like others, did not pit under the Virtual Safety Car and his tyres gave up. He finished sixth. “A bit devastating. Tough one to swallow. Lost a lot of points and ultimately couldn’t keep a Mercedes engine behind. They were just out and out quicker,” he said. “I think we probably chose the wrong tyre... they just kept flying past us.”

Ferrari’s wider problems ran deeper than one race. At Zandvoort, the team had hesitated on team orders, and at Monza its qualifying tow tactics unravelled as the two cars — with Leclerc always towing Hamilton — struggled to get positioning right. Hamilton pointed the finger at the top. “It starts from the top — with team principal Fred Vasseur — and trickles down,” he said, calling for better communication. He is now 76 points adrift of Antonelli with 10 races left, while Ferrari trails Mercedes by 87 points.

“It’s tough because I’m giving it everything I can, and sometimes it’s just not enough,” Hamilton said. “You need all the other stuff to come together... It’s never over ‘till it’s over.” Vasseur, asked about future rules of engagement, said only: “We have time to discuss with the guys.”