Hamilton accuses Ferrari of acting 'too late' after Leclerc clash ends title hopes at Monza

Lewis Hamilton has declared it “far too late” for Ferrari to back him in the Formula 1 title fight after a chaotic Italian Grand Prix at Monza left him sixth and deeper in the hole against the championship-leading Mercedes drivers.

Hamilton’s afternoon unravelled on the opening lap when team-mate Charles Leclerc barged him into the gravel, before Leclerc compounded the damage by spinning into the Parabolica barrier at the end of lap two, triggering a red flag. The double blow left Hamilton 76 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli and 66 adrift of George Russell, while Ferrari slipped 122 points behind Mercedes in the constructors’ standings.

“I think from today, we’ve just lost so much ground to them on points,” Hamilton told media at Monza. “It’s far too late for those decisions to come. It’s many, many weeks 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.”

The Monza incident is the latest flashpoint in a season during which Hamilton has repeatedly criticised Ferrari’s management of team orders. At the Dutch Grand Prix, he felt a podium was squandered when the team hesitated to move Leclerc aside despite Hamilton running faster on fresher tyres. With Leclerc now fifth in the drivers’ standings — 112 points behind Antonelli — Hamilton believes he is the logical candidate for team support, but says the window has closed.

The weekend’s problems extended beyond the on-track collision. Throughout qualifying, Ferrari struggled to coordinate its drivers to provide slipstreams for one another — a critical requirement at a circuit dominated by long straights. Hamilton was nearly eliminated in Q2 as a result, and on his first Q3 run was sent out of the pits too late to benefit from a tow. He secured a slipstream from Leclerc on his second attempt and lined up fourth on the grid after Oscar Piastri received an impeding penalty promoted both Ferrari drivers.

Hamilton did not hide his frustration with how the team has handled the broader campaign. “The guys back at the factory are really, really giving it everything,” he said. “I feel massively gutted for the tifosi who showed up for us today. I’m giving it everything I can, but sometimes it’s just not enough. You need all the other stuff to come together.”

Ferrari’s pace at Monza was unlikely to threaten outright victory, but the team’s inability to maximise what it had — through qualifying coordination failures and the first-lap collision between its own drivers — made a difficult situation considerably worse. With the gap to Mercedes now substantial in both championships, Hamilton’s assessment that the moment has passed looks increasingly hard to dispute.