Hamilton and Leclerc Resolve Tensions After Monza Clash
Lewis Hamilton insists any tension with Ferrari team‑mate Charles Leclerc has been dealt with head‑on after their bruising Italian Grand Prix clash at Monza.
Leclerc pushed Hamilton into the gravel at the first chicane on Sunday, then crashed out two laps later. Hamilton salvaged sixth and left Ferrari’s home race visibly frustrated. It followed a flashpoint at Zandvoort, where Leclerc resisted a radio call to move aside, sparking an on‑air argument between the pair.
This time, they took it behind closed doors.
“We sat face to face, just him and I, and talked about it,” Hamilton said ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. “We were just both open and honest, and we squashed it. We can move on. I think that one shows the maturity from him.”
No engineers. No management. Just two drivers who know they are operating at the sharpest edge of Ferrari’s title hopes.
Hamilton described the relationship as “healthy”, forged over time and tested now that both are running at similar pace.
“Of course, there's going to be frustrations and I'm sure there'll be more times where we're close because we're very close in pace,” he said. “We both want to win just as much as each other, and we both want to do well for the team as well.”
Leclerc, speaking with the same mix of accountability and irritation, did not try to defend the Monza move.
“I obviously know I went too far in turn two and I said it to Lewis,” he admitted. “It's kind of clear that we never want to see a car of the same team in the grass.
“After reviewing, we spoke with Lewis… I think it's very clear what we should do or should avoid going forward.”
He would not reveal the full content of the conversation, but was adamant about one thing: the partnership remains intact.
“It definitely did not affect the good relationship that we have and it will not affect anything going forward. And that is the most important for me, really.”
Monza, though, stings more than most. For Ferrari drivers, that’s the one race where intra‑team contact feels almost sacrilegious.
“I know we are driving for Ferrari and if there's one race where you don't want that to happen, it's in Monza,” Leclerc said. “When these things happen at our home race, then it does a huge mess outside.”
He bristled slightly at the spotlight on their incident.
“Looking at the race from outside, there's been also some friction between other team-mates and the only thing we end up speaking of is Lewis and me, which I don't think is quite right. But that doesn't mean we did everything perfect.”
Hamilton, meanwhile, widened the lens. Ferrari’s problems, he argued, go beyond one clumsy first chicane.
After three consecutive weekends where qualifying has unravelled, he again pointed to the need for sharper execution.
“It's really just making sure we're executing to make sure we get the best result for the team,” he said. “Instead of us working against each other and finish fourth and fifth, maybe we can work together and get a podium and pull off more points.”
He knows that changing Ferrari is not like flicking a switch.
“It's a longer term process. It's not something we can just change into this weekend,” Hamilton said. “There's a huge amount of moving parts, there's a lot of people, there's a culture that's been there for a long, long time and moving big pieces is not so easy.”
Now Formula 1 moves to fresh territory: the first Spanish Grand Prix at the new Madring, a hybrid street circuit laid out around the Ifema complex near Madrid’s international airport. It is tight, fast, and already unsettling drivers.
Hamilton sounded almost wary.
“It's a massively challenging circuit,” he said. “Of all the new tracks that I've gone to, this one, maybe Saudi, are the two closest in terms of how difficult it was to get on top of the car and find the right lines and such.”
George Russell went even stronger. The Mercedes driver, 66 points adrift of team‑mate Kimi Antonelli after the Italian’s stunning charge from 19th to victory at Monza, called Madring “crazy”.
“I would put it, arguably, one of the most risky circuits of the whole calendar,” Russell said. “Because you have real high-speed corners, sort of Jeddah-esque, the walls are very close, so there's no margin for error.
“But then you have other corners where you're coming from a high speed into a slow braking zone, you're braking and turning at the same time, so locking tyres are going to be easy and if you lock up you'll be straight in the wall.
“So, excited to try that out. I think it's going to be really challenging for us as drivers, the race is going to be challenging to overtake, so on the whole it's not an easy one.”
Russell arrives in Spain with his title hopes fading. With nine or ten races left and uncertainty lingering over the final calendar, the gap to Antonelli is starting to look decisive.
“I would definitely need some luck and I need some good performances,” he admitted. “It's not really something I'm thinking about, because he's performing better than me, so he deserves to be leading the championship.
“There's still a long way to go, but he's yet to have a bad weekend in terms of performance.
“So he's performing exceptionally well, my performances are better, but if I want to win this championship, I'm going to need some luck on the way. But it's not something I'm focused on. I'm focused on driving faster and just finding more performance.”
Antonelli, fresh from what he called “so far the best day of my life” at Monza, is trying to keep his head clear of the points table.
“I don't really want to try thinking about the championship,” the Italian said. “I think Monza was the proof that I wasn't driving thinking about, or worrying about the championship. I was just driving to win, to do my best. So that's the mindset.”
A low‑key karting day with Mercedes on Monday helped him come down from the high.
“After Monza, that night, that day overall, I was very excited. But then going karting on Monday helped me to go back to earth, just go back to the ground,” he said. “It was also a way to remind myself where I came from, all the journey that was done.
“And then about pressure, I try to embrace it as much as possible. And I try to see it as a positive thing and try to see it as an opportunity too. That's also what is helping me to stay calm under difficult situations.”
So Ferrari’s drivers insist the air is cleared. Mercedes’ rising star tries to keep his feet on the ground. The new Madring waits with its walls, blind entries and unforgiving kerbs.
For Hamilton, Leclerc and the rest, there will be nowhere to hide if the next flashpoint comes at 300km/h with concrete on either side.
