Formula 1 arrives in Madrid this weekend (September 11-13) for the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix at the new Madring circuit. However, the focus remains on Ferrari’s disastrous Italian Grand Prix.
At Monza last Sunday (September 6), Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc collided on the opening lap.
The Ferrari pair ran side-by-side through the first chicane. Leclerc defended at the exit of Turn 2 and forced Hamilton onto the gravel.
As a result, Hamilton dropped from fourth to tenth.
Leclerc then crashed heavily at the Parabolica on Lap 2 and retired. Meanwhile, Hamilton recovered to finish sixth.
Mercedes secured the top two places with Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.
Hamilton later called it “far too late” for Ferrari to give him priority over Leclerc in the championship fight. The result left Hamilton further behind title leader Antonelli.
The incident was another flashpoint between the Ferrari drivers. Their relationship had already come under pressure after radio tension at Zandvoort.
Both drivers have since met face-to-face and “squashed” the issue ahead of the Madrid race. Leclerc accepted that he “went too far” at Turn 2.
However, questions about team orders and Ferrari’s internal harmony remain.
Former Formula 1 driver Marc Surer offered a blunt assessment to OLBG and Sports News Blitz.
“Yeah, in Monza you could see they don’t agree with each other…they don’t help each other. That’s not the way to win a championship.
“But I’m not sure if they really think they have a chance to win the championship. I think that’s why they hesitate with team orders. Because if there is a chance for Lewis to win the championship… if there would be a bigger chance than there is now, I think they would do it.
“But to tell their future driver, Leclerc, who has a long-term contract, ‘You have to help Lewis now,’ will be difficult because he is the future Ferrari driver. So I think we will have controversy all year.”
Can Ferrari reset in Madrid?
Surer’s comments underline the awkward position Ferrari finds itself in heading into the Madring weekend.
Hamilton sits third in the standings, well clear of Leclerc but now a significant distance behind Antonelli.
With no formal rules of engagement yet agreed between the team and the two drivers, and Leclerc still viewed as the team’s long-term cornerstone, any decisive call remains complicated.
As F1 makes its first visit to the semi-street circuit around IFEMA and Valdebebas this weekend, the Scuderia must show it can race as a cohesive unit.
The Monza scars are fresh, the title maths look bleak for Hamilton, and the pressure on both drivers and the team is only growing.
Madrid will provide the next test of whether Ferrari can move past the friction – or whether Surer’s prediction of season-long controversy proves correct.
