Lewis Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc collided wheel-to-wheel on the opening lap of the 2026 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, forcing Hamilton wide and dropping him from fourth to 10th place [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. A lap later, Leclerc crashed heavily at the Curva Parabolica and retired from the race [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Hamilton finished the race sixth as Mercedes secured a one-two finish, with Kimi Antonelli winning and extending his championship lead [1, 2, 4, 5].
Hamilton is now 76 points behind Antonelli with 10 races remaining in the season [1, 2, 4, 5]. Ferrari sits second in the constructors' standings behind Mercedes [2, 6, 4, 5].
Following the Monza incident, Hamilton called for written "rules of engagement" between Ferrari teammates similar to those he had at Mercedes with Nico Rosberg. "I think it comes down to rules of engagement. When I was at Mercedes we had written rules of engagement. And I think that's something that needs to probably change," Hamilton said [2, 3, 4, 5]. He expressed frustration that Ferrari has no such protocols and is not executing well compared to Mercedes [2, 3, 4, 5]. Hamilton added, "It's far too late for those decisions to come. It's too late. All I can do is just try and turn up. I'll get up tomorrow morning and I'll give it my best" [1].
The Monza collision followed a similar situation at the Dutch Grand Prix two weeks earlier where Ferrari did not issue team orders to favor Hamilton [1, 5]. Hamilton blamed Leclerc for the incident, saying the F1 star "drove me off" [4]. Former world champion and pundit Nico Rosberg publicly backed Hamilton’s view, saying, "Lewis was ahead going in, so Charles has to leave room. And he didn’t, so it was 100% Charles’ fault, and that’s it" [2, 3].
Ferrari fans set a record attendance of 403,666 over the Italian Grand Prix weekend, reflecting strong support at the home race [2, 3].
Before the race, Hamilton qualified fifth and Leclerc fourth. Hamilton questioned Ferrari's tow strategy during qualifying [6]. The next scheduled Formula 1 race will mark the 11th round of the championship with 10 remaining after Monza [1, 4].
