Sparks flew instantly between the 2 i drivers on the 2026 x. Earlier than s race ended with an enormous shunt into the Parabolica boundaries on Lap 2, the Monegasque driver engaged in a fierce wheel-to-wheel scrap along with his teammate n by way of the opening chicane. The Lap 1 skirmish compelled Hamilton broad, prompting the seven-time world champion to g.
Now, Leclerc is pushing again towards the media frenzy, rejecting the thought of a brewing civil battle inside Maranello whereas admitting their on-track aggression crossed the road.
Leclerc Pushing Again on the Narrative
The extreme battle by way of the Variante del Rettifilo left Hamilton fuming over the radio. Following the race, leaked audio captured Hamilton expressing excessive frustration with Ferrari’s lack of inside construction, evaluating the chaos to his notoriously poisonous championship battles with Nico Rosberg at Mercedes. “After I was at Mercedes, we had written guidelines of engagement,” Hamilton acknowledged. “Right here, there aren’t any guidelines. We have to tackle that”.
When requested by the media concerning the Flip 1 and Flip 2 contact, Leclerc shortly shut down the premise of a bitter, intra-team rivalry.
“Yeah, I don’t actually know who’s forcing that narrative that we’re one towards the opposite,” Leclerc acknowledged. “I imply, actually, Zandvoort, there was means too many talks already”.
Nonetheless, Leclerc did concede that the aggressive maneuvering in entrance of the house crowd was a misstep. “Right here is true, although, that we went too far,” Leclerc admitted. “I feel Lewis in flip one. Then flip two, I attempted to do the tightest nook potential, however that was simply not sufficient. And doing it right here isn’t good”.
The Parabolica Crash
Leclerc’s afternoon went from dangerous to worse simply moments later. Whereas operating on the surface of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Leclerc misplaced management of his SF-26 and slammed into the tyre boundaries, bringing out an early crimson flag.
Whereas preliminary hypothesis urged Piastri could have compelled him offline, Leclerc pointed to a sudden mechanical inconsistency. “I wouldn’t say that that is the problem,” Leclerc defined. “I feel from lap one to lap two, I had a little bit of a distinction in energy supply. We’ll look into it, however yeah, I don’t wish to remark an excessive amount of earlier than checking the information and confirming it 100%”.
With zero factors scored at Ferrari’s most necessary race of the yr, Leclerc admitted the outcome was a bitter capsule to swallow in entrance of the Tifosi. “Yeah, it’s very irritating, nevertheless it’s the best way it’s now,” he concluded. “I can’t change the outcomes. I’ll must look ahead and hopefully bounce again in Baku”.