Ferrari F1 have blown it again, only Christian Horner can fix this mess and the Lewis Hamilton problem

Lewis Hamilton hides his face as Christian Horner smiles in front of a Ferrari themed background — Photo: © IMAGO

Ferrari Chaos

Ferrari have blown it again, only Christian Horner can fix this mess and the Lewis Hamilton problem

Ferrari need a reset and get in Horner for it

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Monday 7 September 2026 12:46

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It wouldn't be an F1 season without Ferrari stumbling into some sort of drama and damn have they chosen the worst moment for it.

For much of 2026, Ferrari have convinced us they were in a title fight with Mercedes. In fairness, Lewis Hamilton has more often or not been the chief challenger to Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.

The Italian Grand Prix was supposed to be where they put pressure on the Silver Arrows, with Antonelli starting from 19th and those red cars showing promising pace early in the weekend, despite their power deficit concerns.

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The dreams were to leave Monza with their tails up after at least a double podium finish and focus on the title run in. What they got instead was something their biggest rivals couldn't have dreamed of.

Charles Leclerc was out of the race on lap two, having already squabbled with his team-mate Lewis Hamilton into turn one, dumping the latter down to 10th.

The seven-time world champion recovered briefly but was soon swallowed up by Max Verstappen, the two McLarens and even Antonelli's Mercedes, who blitzed past twice having pitted, before going on to win the race.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton launches Leclerc attack as FIA stewards explain crucial decision

Charles Leclerc forced Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton wide at turn one

Ferrari in a mess after Monza

It leaves Hamilton 76 points behind Antonelli in the championship. This is significant because in the final 10 races it now means the Italian can finish second in every race behind Hamilton and still be world champion.

But that's a wild scenario anyway, given Hamilton has only won one race all year back in June with the Spanish Grand Prix.

So Ferrari leave Monza with their title hopes dashed rather than boosted, and even then team boss Fred Vasseur will be wishing that was his only issue.

Because right now, he has two drivers on the brink of a civil war. Hamilton was furious with Leclerc's actions into turn one insisting the Monegasque was to blame. This was in reaction to Leclerc stating that they both 'went too far.'

Hamilton has started to lose his patience at Ferrari. For weeks he has been demanding the team back him in the title race and ignore Leclerc, who before Monza had outscored the 41-year-old in the four previous race weekends.

While Hamilton did have a case as the leading driver, he was only 28 points in front of Leclerc - which with over 10 races to go is quite a thin margin.

That wasn't Hamilton's only concern though, as post-race he slammed the team for having no code of conduct when it came to intra-team wheel-to-wheel battles, insisting it was something he had at Mercedes.

That's the second time he referenced his old team in successive races, having complained about Ferrari's lack of team orders to allow him past Leclerc in Zandvoort alluding to Mercedes allowing a slick moment to get Antonelli past Russell in the same race.

Fred Vasseur has a great relationship with Lewis Hamilton long before their Ferrari days

Vasseur's Lewis Hamilton issue

Let's not get too deeply into that though because really the focus is how on the above effects what the outlook now is at Ferrari.

Hamilton is furious with the team for not ditching Leclerc as joint No.1, at Leclerc for having the audacity to challenge him in anyway... oh and the car isn't good enough as well.

As with any Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur's remit is to win world championships, something he and his successors have failed to do going all the way back to 2008.

Now while Vasseur is doing no worse than the likes of Mattia Binotto, Maurizio Arrivabene, Marco Mattiacci and Stefano Domenicali (yes, I know he won the 2008 title, but look what happened after!) he certainly isn't doing much better.

Three ways to go with Hamilton

The Frenchman also seems to be losing control of his drivers, especially Hamilton. It's a tough one for Vasseur who has a great relationship with Hamilton going back decades before even F1.

But he has a Lewis Hamilton problem, and his inaction (at least publicly) has made Ferrari the wild west of F1 teams.

Vasseur has three options. Back Hamilton, scold Hamilton or do nothing. Right now he is picking by far the worst of the three in sitting back and letting Maranello burn.

Vasseur is clearly conflicted here, for whatever reason but he appears too close personally to Hamilton to make a key decision. Ferrari not having a good enough car to challenge Mercedes only magnifies this issue.

Christian Horner knew Max Verstappen was the winning ticket at Red Bull

Christian Horner offers solutions

Ferrari must now consider their options for 2027 because they can ill afford another runaway train, this is where Christian Horner can become an interesting proposition.

If Horner was Ferrari team principal he would have put a lid on this long ago. He had a similar situation at Red Bull in the Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo era. The Australian quickly worked out where Red Bull's focus was.

Horner would come in and make a similar calculation at Ferrari. He may think Hamilton has a point and that they should make him No.1 driver. He might think Hamilton runs his mouth too much and tell him to 'shut up or clear off'.

The point is Horner makes a decision, and in a team paralysed with fear and terrified of making a wrong call, Horner's influence would be massive and not just in driver management.

Horner's Red Bull cars had an excellent history of developing well during a season, something that has long since blighted Ferrari who tend to start strong and either stagnate or even drop off.

Ferrari are pretty much where they were in 2023 when Vasseur started. At the end of this season, Vasseur will have matched the tenures of Binotto and Arrivabene.

A rethink is needed in Maranello, who have been doing the same thing since 2008. A radical switch to Horner, which would be a first ever English team principal in their history, would be brave but possibly much needed reboot at Ferrari.

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Fred Vasseur