F1 News: Lewis Hamilton 'feels betrayed by Vasseur' - Italian media react to Ferrari fallout

Vasseur looking serious in conversation with Hamilton, who has back to the camera — Photo: © IMAGO

Lewis Hamilton 'feels betrayed by Vasseur' - Italian media react to Ferrari fallout

Vasseur under heavy fire after Monza meltdown

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Wednesday 9 September 2026 08:55

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The fallout to Ferrari's shocking 2026 Italian Grand Prix continues to rumble on in Italy as a nation processes the latest failure of its beloved team.

While 20-year-old Kimi Antonelli was surging through from P19 to take a glorious 'home win' at the 'Temple of Speed', it was not the home win most fans wanted.

The adoring tifosi had assembled at Monza on Sunday hoping that Lewis Hamilton and/or Charles Leclerc could breathe new life into a Scuderia season which is again threatening to peter out.

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What they got instead was disaster as first the Ferrari team-mates made controversial early contact with each other on Lap 1. Then Leclerc crashed out heavily on Lap 2 to end his day.

Hamilton then drove round to an uninspiring P6 finish, with Ferrari's ADUO2 engine upgrade failing to make a notable dent in the huge gap to Antonelli and Mercedes.

Afterwards the seven-time world champion was again critical of Ferrari's strategy, saying among other things that the team have no prescriptive rules of engagement for their drivers. That in stark contrast to his days at Mercedes.

Defending Hamilton, Vasseur under fire

Reaction from Italian media has been predictably brutal, with Giorgio Pasini of Tuttosport withering in his criticism as he reveals his post-race report cards.

Giving the Scuderia a miserable 4/10 rating, Pasini did though defend Hamilton and clearly believes the British star is on the right side of any argument. He also has a strong take on the 'lack of rules' and what that means for Hamilton's relationship with team principal Fred Vasseur.

"Hamilton (rating 7: fighting with what he has) feels betrayed by Vasseur (the rating for the team is his as the boss) and his failure to give team orders like the other teams.

"He says it openly. And who can blame him? The spirit and legacy of Schumacher, which Ferrari wanted to celebrate here, is truly lost, left behind at the Monza of twenty years ago. The last victory here in the Kaiser's golden era."

'Disastrous moves' from Leclerc

Leclerc meanwhiles comes in for heavy criticism, and a 2/10 rating, as Pasini claims: "Rating 2, like the two disastrous moves in three laps: the one on his team-mate at the first corner and the accident on the Parabolica caused by putting his wheels on the gratings of the new slippery kerb, as everyone knew. "

Pasini says the record crowd of 404,000 came to Monza looking for hope - instead it found a Ferrari again succumbing to "friendly fire". Where have we heard that before.

The second half of the season is only just under way but Sunday's events in Monza mean we can almost certainly curtail any talk of Ferrari title hopes in 2026.

Once again it is now about the future, who will remain and who will survive. The fun and games at Maranello are only just beginning.