Lewis Hamilton insists the dust has settled. The Monza flashpoint, the gravel, the angry radio messages – all of it, he says, is now in the past.
The seven-time world champion revealed he and Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc have held a direct, private clear-the-air meeting after their clash at the Italian Grand Prix, where Leclerc forced Hamilton into the gravel at the first chicane and then crashed out two laps later. Hamilton salvaged sixth, but left Ferrari’s home race frustrated and under a harsh spotlight.
Two races, two incidents. At Zandvoort, Leclerc refused a radio request to move aside. At Monza, the fight spilled over the white lines.
This time, they dealt with it head-on.
“We sat face to face, just him and I, and talked about it,” Hamilton said on Thursday ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix at the new Madring circuit. “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 team bosses. No cameras. Just two drivers who know they are racing on the same piece of tarmac at roughly the same speed.
“It’s healthy,” Hamilton continued. “It’s a relationship we have built over time. 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.
“We both want to win just as much as each other, and we both want to do well for the team as well.”
Leclerc, for his part, did not try to dress Monza up as a racing incident.
“It’s kind of clear that we never want to see a car of the same team in the grass,” he said. “After reviewing, we spoke with Lewis. I obviously know I went too far in turn two and I said it to Lewis and I think it’s very clear what we should do or should avoid going forward.”
He would not reveal the finer details of the conversation, but he was adamant about the bigger picture.
“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.”
The context matters. This is Ferrari. This was Monza.
“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 and when these things happen at our home race, then it does a huge mess outside,” Leclerc said.
He also bristled slightly at the narrative that he and Hamilton were uniquely combustible.
“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 did not shy away from a different issue: Ferrari’s execution. Three consecutive weekends have gone awry in qualifying, and the team have repeatedly left themselves with too much to do on Sundays.
“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.
“It’s a longer term process. It’s not something we can just change into this weekend. 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.”
New track, new test
The paddock arrives in Spain this week, but not to the familiar sweeps of Barcelona. F1 heads instead to the Madring, a tight, hybrid street circuit wrapped around the Ifema complex near Madrid’s international airport.
Drivers are already wary.
“It’s a massively challenging circuit,” Hamilton 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 did not soften the description.
“It’s a crazy circuit, I would put it,” the Mercedes driver said. “Arguably one of the most risky circuits of the whole calendar.
“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 chasing Antonelli
Russell arrives in Madrid facing a very different kind of challenge: the championship gap to team-mate Kimi Antonelli. The Italian’s stunning Monza victory from 19th on the grid has left Russell 66 points adrift, with uncertainty over how many races the season will ultimately feature.
The Briton knows the maths.
“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 calls the best day of his life, is trying to keep his head clear.
“I don’t really want to try thinking about the championship,” he 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.”
The emotional high of Monza did not linger for long. Mercedes sent him back to where it all began.
“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 a good day, good fun day with the team. 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 Hamilton and Leclerc arrive in Madrid insisting the internal fires at Ferrari are under control. Russell comes chasing a team-mate in the form of his life. Antonelli turns up determined to keep driving as if the points table does not exist.
Now they all face a new circuit with concrete walls and no room for error. On a track this unforgiving, the next mistake – or the next masterpiece – will not be easy to hide.
