Charles Leclerc's Monza Exit: A Chaotic Italian Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc left Monza with more questions than answers after a brutal early exit from the Italian Grand Prix – and a “way too close” fight with team mate Lewis Hamilton that set the tone for a chaotic opening lap.

The Ferraris lined up nose-to-tail in P3 and P4, Leclerc ahead of Hamilton, with the Tifosi roaring them towards Turn 1. They went side-by-side into the first chicane, neither willing to blink. By Turn 2, it had boiled over.

Hamilton was forced across the gravel and tumbled down the order, immediately telling the team over the radio that he had been pushed off. Leclerc, focused on making the corner from the inside line, later admitted the scrap had crossed an internal line.

“With Lewis it was a way too close into Turn 1 and unfortunately in Turn 2 – I don't know if we had contact or whatsoever,” he said. “I was quite a lot on the inside curve and tried to make the corner, which I didn't do it tight enough, and then I obviously only saw in the mirrors what happened which is never what you want between two cars, between two cars of the same team.”

The incident left Hamilton with a recovery job. Leclerc, though, wouldn’t even get that chance.

As the second lap began, the Monegasque tried to settle into rhythm. Instead, his race detonated in an instant at Parabolica. Pushing through the famous final corner, he ran off the track and slammed into the barriers, his Ferrari skating out of control and straight out of the Grand Prix.

The grandstands fell silent for a moment before the relief: Leclerc climbed out unharmed. The disappointment, especially among the red sea of fans, was unmistakable.

Leclerc later tried to unpick what had gone wrong in those few seconds before the crash.

“Then for the crash itself, I went on throttle – on the first lap it felt kind of weird, I had to go back off and on throttle,” he explained. “On that second lap, I tried to do the same thing but, I don't know, it just felt a little bit weird, so we'll look into it.”

No dramatic explanation. No obvious driver error he was willing to pin it all on. Just an uneasy feeling under his right foot and a car that didn’t respond the way he expected.

For Leclerc, a weekend that started on the second row at Ferrari’s home race ended in the barriers by Lap 2, leaving the team to sift through data and the Tifosi to wonder how a promising Sunday unraveled so quickly.