Charles Leclerc’s Italian Grand Prix lasted barely two laps, but it packed in enough drama for an afternoon.
From P3 and P4 on the grid, the Ferraris of Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton launched in formation, red cars surging towards the Variante del Rettifilo with Monza’s grandstands roaring them on. They arrived at Turn 1 side by side. Neither backed out.
Leclerc held the inside. Hamilton tried to hang on around the outside as they flicked into Turn 2. The space vanished. Hamilton bounced across the gravel, showering stones, and tumbled down the order. On the radio, the seven-time world champion complained he’d been pushed off.
Leclerc, up ahead, pressed on. Briefly, it looked like he had escaped the opening-lap chaos and was settling into the race. That illusion lasted only a few corners.
At Parabolica on Lap 2, it all unraveled. The Ferrari snapped away from him on exit, skated off the asphalt and slammed into the barriers, silencing the Tifosi almost instantly. The impact was heavy, the disappointment heavier, but Leclerc climbed out unhurt.
Later, facing the media, the Monegasque didn’t hide from the uncomfortable reality of that first-lap fight with his team mate.
“With Lewis it was a way too close into Turn 1 and unfortunately in Turn 2 – I don't know if we had contact or whatsoever,” he said, acknowledging that this was exactly the sort of intra-team flashpoint Ferrari can do without. He described himself riding the inside kerb, trying to make the corner but not tightening the line enough, then only catching the aftermath in his mirrors.
“Which is never what you want between two cars, between two cars of the same team,” he admitted.
The wheel-to-wheel skirmish was one thing. The crash that followed was another puzzle entirely.
Leclerc explained that something had already felt off on the opening lap at Parabolica when he went on the throttle, forcing him to come off and back on again. On Lap 2, he tried to repeat the same approach.
“Then for the crash itself, I went on throttle – on the first lap it felt kind of weird, I had to go back off and on throttle,” he said. “On that second lap, I tried to do the same thing but, I don't know, it just felt a little bit weird, so we'll look into it.”
Ferrari will now comb through the data to understand whether driver, car, or conditions tipped Leclerc into the barriers. The Tifosi, who arrived dreaming of a double charge from P3 and P4, left with the image of a scarred Ferrari and a race undone in the space of two laps.
