Leclerc-Hamilton, it is an open clash. Vasseur: “We will have to discuss what happened”

Blunder at the start

On the day of Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s triumph in front of an ecstatic Monza crowd, Ferrari probably says goodbye to its World Championship hopes and experiences the worst weekend since the start of this season. The disastrous turn-1 duel between Leclerc and Hamilton, the Monegasque’s crash at Parabolica, the British driver’s continuous radio complaints about the poor performance of the SF-26 leave the red team principal Fred Vasseur with many thoughts and just as many problems to solve.

In an interview with Sky Sport F1, the French manager did not hide and acknowledged that the growing internal tension within the team between the two drivers must somehow be addressed: “Team orders? In the end, we will have to discuss with both drivers to clarify the situation – Vasseur explained to Sky – it was certainly a pity what happened. Finding ourselves with a car eighth after the first corner is not ideal“. However, one wonders if before the race there was any discussion between the drivers and the pit wall on how to avoid causing such a disaster in a notoriously difficult corner like Monza’s First Variante.

Leclerc already home

The three-way dialogue between Vasseur, Leclerc, and Hamilton will, however, be postponed. The team principal revealed that Leclerc left the track early after the very bad crash – fortunately without physical consequences – he was involved in at the Alboreto corner. “I spoke with Charles during the race and he told me he was fine – said Vasseur – but he preferred to go home as soon as possible. It was also a shock for him because the impact was quite heavy at about 50 G. So I will call him in the next few days“.

Translated from

Vasseur: “We knew we would struggle in Monza, but it went worse than expected in the race, Madrid will be a good opportunity”