Ferrari F1 bosses urged to take action amid Lewis Hamilton-Charles Leclerc tension
Ferrari has been urged to take action to smooth things over between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Ferrari’s top brass have been urged to step in to avoid increasing tension brewing between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc by ex-Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya.
Hamilton and Leclerc tangled at the first corner of Ferrari’s home race at the Italian Grand Prix as they battled over third place, having started alongside one another on the second row of the grid.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton was forced off onto the gravel and plummeted down the order to 10th. Leclerc did not lose any positions but would suffer a heavy crash at the Parabolica at the end of the second lap as Ferrari's race dramatically unravelled.
Hamilton would go on to finish sixth in what marked a disastrous Monza race for Ferrari.
Leclerc claimed both drivers were at fault for the clash but Hamilton was quick to challenge that view, insisting: “There was no 'we' in it’. "I don't race dirty, I've always raced clean and fairly and always left space.”
According to seven-time grand prix winner Montoya, Ferrari needs to take action to prevent the team in-fighting from getting out of hand.
"They need to go to not only Fred but above Fred and sit them down,” Montoya told F1TV.
“Both of them need to go to Maranello this week, and they need to sit down and have a proper talk because, in my opinion, Charles came out and said, 'I raced Lewis like I would have raced anybody else.
"But it's your team-mate, and you've got to respect your team-mate, and you've got to respect the team.”
After the race, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur acknowledged the collision between his drivers was “not good for the team”.
"We will have time to discuss it [with the drivers]. But the outcome of Turn 1-2 is not good for the team,” he said.
Hamilton has now fallen 76 points adrift of Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the championship but has moved 36 clear of Leclerc.
Vasseur stressed it is too early for Ferrari to throw its weight behind one driver in the title fight. Hamilton believes it is “far too late” for the team to give him priority over Leclerc after losing more ground.
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