Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari has left it too late to consider prioritising him over Charles Leclerc in the championship battle after a difficult Italian Grand Prix weakened his title hopes.
Hamilton started fourth at Monza but finished sixth following an eventful opening lap with his Ferrari team-mate. The two went side by side through the first chicane, with Hamilton forced onto the grass and dropping to 10th.
Leclerc’s race ended soon afterwards when he crashed heavily at the Parabolica, triggering a red flag and leaving Hamilton as Ferrari’s only realistic contender for a podium finish.
The restart failed to bring the seven-time world champion back into the fight at the front. Mercedes went on to secure a one-two finish, while Hamilton was unable to make enough progress to limit the damage in the standings.
Before the race, Hamilton had been level on points with George Russell, who sat second in the championship. He is now 10 points behind his former Mercedes team-mate and 76 behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who won the Italian Grand Prix.
Hamilton acknowledged that the size of the gap, combined with Mercedes’ current pace, has made a title recovery increasingly difficult. While he has not completely abandoned his championship ambitions, he believes Ferrari has already missed the ideal moment to introduce a clear hierarchy between its drivers.
Ferrari Team-Mate Tensions Return
Questions over Ferrari’s handling of Hamilton and Leclerc had already surfaced following the Dutch Grand Prix.
At Zandvoort, Hamilton felt Ferrari waited too long before allowing him to move ahead of Leclerc, who was running third on a different strategy. Hamilton had fresher tyres and believed he had the pace to challenge for a podium, but the delay cost him valuable time.
His frustration was clear over team radio at the time, although he later apologised for the way he expressed it.
The opening-lap battle at Monza has brought the issue back into focus.
Leclerc said after his retirement that the two Ferraris had been extremely close into the opening corner and admitted he had struggled to keep his car tight enough on the inside. He was unsure whether contact had been made.
Hamilton viewed the situation differently, maintaining that he had been ahead through the second part of the chicane and making clear that he did not consider the incident a shared responsibility.
He also rejected suggestions that Ferrari should fear a damaging rivalry between its drivers. Hamilton stressed that he intends to continue racing Leclerc fairly and avoid putting the team at unnecessary risk.
Vasseur Delays Championship Decision
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur admitted that seeing his drivers fight so closely was not ideal, but argued that managing competition between team-mates is a normal challenge for Formula 1 teams.
Vasseur said Ferrari had not believed it was necessary to choose a lead driver before Monza. He pointed to previous championship situations in which teams risked making such decisions too early, suggesting Ferrari wanted to avoid limiting its options prematurely.
However, the Italian Grand Prix result has changed the picture. Hamilton remains two championship positions ahead of Leclerc, but his deficit to Antonelli has grown significantly, leaving Ferrari with less room for strategic hesitation.
Vasseur indicated that the team now has an opportunity to reassess its approach with both drivers.
Hamilton, meanwhile, believes Ferrari must also improve the way it communicates internally. He suggested that continuing with the same processes would only produce similar results and said changes are necessary if the team is to make progress during the remaining races.
After another weekend in which Ferrari failed to turn competitive potential into a strong result, the pressure is increasing on the team to decide whether Hamilton should receive greater strategic support — even if he believes that decision should have been made earlier.