How Ferrari mechanics privately felt about Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s results at Monza

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Ferrari were desperate to put their misery at Zandvoort firmly behind them at their home race at Monza. But the wait for their first win of 2025 goes on.

The Maranello outfit suffered a double DNF at the Dutch GP, with Lewis Hamilton crashing out on lap 23 at the banking at turn three. Teammate Charles Leclerc was wiped out by Kimi Antonelli on lap 53 at the same corner.

The Italian Grand Prix presented the perfect opportunity for Ferrari to bounce back in front of the Tifosi. Hamilton issued a rallying cry to Ferrari fans before the race, telling them that they needed their support at Monza – they certainly delivered.

Ferrari fans produced a louder roar for Hamilton than Leclerc as he competed in his first race at Monza in the iconic red colours. He was determined to put on a good show, but he lined up down in 10th after serving a five-place grid penalty from Zandvoort.

The seven-time champion produced a strong recovery drive to finish P6, while Leclerc challenged for a podium with Oscar Piastri in the opening stages. However, the Monegasque driver came up short and had to settle for fourth.

Ferrari mechanics felt Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc produced the ‘maximum’ they could at Monza

Ferrari’s results move them 20 points clear of Mercedes in the constructors’ championship. But the Tifosi did not get to see their heroes stand on the podium as Max Verstappen claimed the win ahead of the McLarens.

But that did not seem to faze the Ferrari mechanics. Journalist Aaron Deckers noted that they felt Hamilton and Leclerc produced the ‘maximum’ they could in the SF-25 and that they could not do anymore.

“Well, of course. It all looked a lot better, actually. Also the free practice on Friday, Saturday morning,” said Deckers via RacingNews365.

“Only in qualifying they were suddenly, well, maybe a bit exaggerated, but they were actually beaten well by Verstappen and by the McLarens. And in the race pace, they just really came up short.

“So it was mainly a bit of disappointment, especially from the Ferrari drivers. The team was still quite optimistic actually, as we just spoke with some mechanics and also within the team.

“There was a bit of feeling of, ‘OK, this was the maximum we could do, and yeah, what more could we do than that?’

“We also spoke briefly with Jean Alesi, former Ferrari driver of course, and he got the chance to stop the interview because Flavio Briatore came by.

“But it also suited him very well, because when it came to Ferrari, you could actually see that he looked very despondent, like, ‘Do we really have to talk about this?”

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Ferrari felt that they could challenge McLaren at Monza but they fell short

Optimism was high in Maranello ahead of their home race as they believed that they could make a step up on home soil. ‘Everyone’ at Ferrari felt they could challenge McLaren at Monza, but no one dared to admit it.

Ultimately, they would come up short, with Leclerc finishing four seconds behind Piastri in third and 25 seconds behind the victor Verstappen. Hamilton was 12 seconds further down the road in sixth, but he was very positive about his weekend.

Nico Rosberg performed a U-turn on Hamilton as he was delighted to see the Brit being positive at Monza, having initially felt that he had not found confidence in the SF-25.

Hamilton feels like it’s a new start to the season ‘in his mind’ as he seems to be re-energised after the summer break. Ferrari closed the gap to the frontrunners at Monza, but time will tell if they can make another step.