F1 News: Charles Leclerc admits blame in Lewis Hamilton battle after Ferrari talks

Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Madring, Spanish GP, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

Ferrari F1

Charles Leclerc admits blame in Lewis Hamilton battle after Ferrari talks

Leclerc spoke to media in Baku on Wednesday

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Wednesday 23 September 2026 18:45

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Charles Leclerc has admitted "sometimes I went a little too far" in his on-track battles with Ferrari F1 team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

The Scuderia employing 'two number one drivers' has delivered almost inevitable consequences with acrimony about team orders and how the pair race together.

In recent races tension at Maranello has ramped up significantly - notably after the pair made contact in Turn 2 on the opening lap of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

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The collision cost Hamilton several places as he eventually finished sixth on what was a miserable home race for Ferrari. Leclerc himself crashed soon after the contact with Lewis.

Hamilton came out afterwards to say there were no clear rules of engagement for himself and Leclerc, comments which also put the focus on the role of team principal Fred Vasseur.

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Leclerc admits he was at fault

Now, as Ferrari prepare for this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, the 28-year-old Leclerc has spoken in depth about the battles with Hamilton and how the team will operate moving forward.

The Monegasque told media in Baku: "There have been moments where I went too far, where Lewis went too far, but I think the key in that is to discuss.

"I mean, I’ve been with Ferrari since 2019 now and I know everything we do is overanalysed, over-discussed, and very often the conclusions that are taken after those kinds of fights are the wrong ones.

"We only need to speak with Lewis to kind of understand. We’ve been doing that all our life, so we both want to win and there’s competition, but we also want to win as a team and to make Ferrari come out on top eventually. So that is the priority.

"But I mean, I enjoy fighting with Lewis and that’s what is exciting in Formula 1, is to be fighting against the best, and Lewis is definitely up there. So, for me it’s a big challenge, but I’m enjoying it."

Leclerc and Hamilton clashed on track at Monza.

'The rules are clear' claims Leclerc

Hamilton has said on multiple occasions that there are no rules of engagement for the drivers at Maranello, but Leclerc believes things are now clear enough after several rounds of talks between the pair.

"Turn 2 in Monza is something that I’ve said repeatedly, that it’s not something that we want to see ever happen again, and that’s going too far on my side.

"But I’ve been through it already. Yeah, I think it’s pretty clear that we don’t necessarily have to write those things. I think it’s clear enough."

Leclerc also believes the fact he and Hamilton are Ferrari drivers just means the media frenzy around their rivalry is amplified way too much. They are huge names driving for the biggest brand in the sport.

"Again, I feel like it’s being over-discussed and overanalysed when it’s about the red cars.

"That’s not really fair. In Monza, if you look at the four top teams, three of them had fights like this, with the car finishing in the grass, and at the end of the day the only thing we are speaking about still now is the red cars, which I don’t think is fair."

Ferrari arrive in Baku with their title challenge floundering after a miserable run of results. Hamilton himself had been just 32 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli after Leclerc's British Grand Prix victory in early July.

Now the seven-time world champion trails the Mercedes youngster by a massive 101 points, while Ferrari are now 145 adrift in the Constructors' title race.

Leclerc, who claimed four consecutive pole positions in Baku between 2021 and 2024, is likely to face an uphill battle this weekend as he is expected to take a grid penalty for a power unit change.

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Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Charles Leclerc