Ferrari’s homecoming at Monza will begin with headwinds after stewards handed Lewis Hamilton a five-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently under double yellows before the Dutch Grand Prix.
The decision, softened from a standard 10-place drop due to mitigating efforts to slow, capped a weekend to forget for the Scuderia: Hamilton crashed out from P7 amid a Turn 3 oversteer snap on a damp track, while Charles Leclerc was eliminated in a separate incident after a risky move from Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli.
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur, emphasizing process over panic, argued there were still positives to bank—Hamilton’s pace steps since a dispiriting pre-break run (Q12 in Hungary, Q1 exit in Belgium), and set-up directions that should translate at Monza’s high-speed profile.
Hamilton echoed the sentiment, describing the car as “twitchy” but improved, and insisting his confidence had returned despite recent setbacks in his first season in red.
The broader stakes are clear: while Ferrari remain second in the constructors’, Mercedes have trimmed the gap to 12 points after George Russell’s P4.
Leclerc, last year’s Italian GP winner ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, expects Monza to suit Ferrari better than Zandvoort’s traits, which “had everything our car hates.” Whether that converts to a podium is another matter; McLaren’s straight-line efficiency looms, but a cleaner weekend could stabilize the narrative around Maranello’s blockbuster Hamilton era—and halt a momentum swing on the eve of the season’s run-in.
The decision, softened from a standard 10-place drop due to mitigating efforts to slow, capped a weekend to forget for the Scuderia: Hamilton crashed out from P7 amid a Turn 3 oversteer snap on a damp track, while Charles Leclerc was eliminated in a separate incident after a risky move from Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli.
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur, emphasizing process over panic, argued there were still positives to bank—Hamilton’s pace steps since a dispiriting pre-break run (Q12 in Hungary, Q1 exit in Belgium), and set-up directions that should translate at Monza’s high-speed profile.
Hamilton echoed the sentiment, describing the car as “twitchy” but improved, and insisting his confidence had returned despite recent setbacks in his first season in red.
The broader stakes are clear: while Ferrari remain second in the constructors’, Mercedes have trimmed the gap to 12 points after George Russell’s P4.
Leclerc, last year’s Italian GP winner ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, expects Monza to suit Ferrari better than Zandvoort’s traits, which “had everything our car hates.” Whether that converts to a podium is another matter; McLaren’s straight-line efficiency looms, but a cleaner weekend could stabilize the narrative around Maranello’s blockbuster Hamilton era—and halt a momentum swing on the eve of the season’s run-in.
