MADRID, Spain — Lewis Hamilton smiled at the assembled reporters as he took a seat to begin his media session on Thursday ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix .“Wow, there’s a lot of people!” Hamilton said, looking out at the large group assembled on the first floor of Ferrari’s motorhome. Interest in both Hamilton and his teammate, Charles Leclerc, was high at the Madring, after their high-profile clash at Ferrari’s home race at Monza last Sunday.On the first lap of the Italian GP, Hamilton and Leclerc went side-by-side into the first corner, and when this continued into Turn 2, Hamilton was squeezed out of room and touched the gravel on the track’s outside, causing him to lose six places while Leclerc raced on ahead.It was the first blow on a bad home race for Ferrari, one where tens of thousands of fans decked in red had turned up to cheer on the Scuderia. One lap later, Leclerc crashed out dramatically at Monza’s final corner, causing the race to be suspended and leaving him in need of a precautionary check up at the track’s medical center.Hamilton could then only muster sixth place, lamenting that what happened at the start had cost him more ground, especially with championship leader and Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes going on to win, and that Ferrari didn’t have rules in place to cover wheel-to-wheel fighting between teammates.Hamilton has also been frustrated Ferrari has not given clear priority on strategy calls to its driver that sits higher up the standings – a place he has held in the drivers’ points standings since his win in the Barcelona-Catalunya GP in June.He’d told his race engineer on the radio he and Leclerc would “have it out” after the race, signaling his displeasure. On Monday, Hamilton sought out Fred Vasseur, Ferrari’s team principal, to have what he called a “clearing out discussion” about what had happened with Leclerc.“Naturally we’re going to always have different opinions,” Hamilton said. “But at the end of the day, we come together and we find a way forward.”Leclerc, who spoke to the media shortly before Hamilton in Madrid on Thursday, said he took responsibility for what happened at Turn 2 and the squeeze on his teammate. After reviewing the incident, the pair spoke and Leclerc accepted he “went too far.”“It’s very clear what we should do or should avoid going forward,” said Leclerc. “But I won’t go into much more detail than what we’ve said. The only thing I can say is that it definitely did not affect the good relationship that we have, and it will not affect anything going forward.”The message from both Ferrari drivers was clear: everything is fine. Hamilton even pointed to previous incidents between teammates in F1 history, saying it was “no biggie.” He said he and Leclerc had sat down together and talked it through to clear things up.“We sat face to face, just him and I, and talked about it,” Hamilton said. “We were both open and honest, and we squashed it and we can move on. I think that shows maturity from him. It’s healthy. It’s a relationship we built over time.”Hamilton’s personal relationship with Leclerc has largely been portrayed positively through their time together at Ferrari.They quickly bonded over a shared love of chess last year upon Hamilton’s arrival at the team, downloading an app so they could play each other regularly, and there was no hint of tension. The public message from both now is that nothing has changed on that front.Hamilton also addressed his “no rules” comment from post-race last Sunday, regarding how Ferrari allows its drivers to race each other without codified instructions, a situation he claimed was unlike his previous teams, McLaren and Mercedes.Hamilton said the implementation of ‘rules of engagement’ — F1 jargon for such instructions being issued to drivers — had not been part of the post-Monza talks.“There was not,” he said. “Right now, I’m just trying to focus on having a better weekend (in Madrid). I’m sure at some stage we’ll discuss how we can be better, but we’ve not had a lot of time to just turn around. You can’t change things in two days.”Lewis Hamilton speaks to reporters ahead of the 2026 Spanish GP in Madrid. (Clive Mason / Getty Images)Hamilton’s return to form early in 2026 gave rise to thoughts a record-breaking eighth world championship could again be within his grasp.After scoring his first Ferrari win at Barcelona in June, the gap to Mercedes driver Antonelli was 41 points. But a return of just one podium in the six races since means the gap has grown to 76 — equivalent to three race wins without Antonelli scoring in the same run. Leclerc, in the sister Ferrari, is a further 36 points back from Hamilton.Monza was the most serious incident, but it wasn’t the first time Hamilton had been left frustrated by Ferrari not being more proactive managing its drivers on the track this year.At Zandvoort, he asked why Ferrari didn’t ask Leclerc, who was on a different tire strategy, to move out of his way, costing him time and a possible shot at a podium finish against George Russell in the other Mercedes.Hamilton later climbed down from terse radio messages that he initially defended by saying “I want to win.”Then came some difficulties in qualifying at Monza, when Hamilton said Ferrari was trying to give both drivers equal opportunities to get a slipstream but “stumbled,” suggesting it could have been managed better.There is rationale to Ferrari putting its efforts behind Hamilton, given his better odds of winning the championship.But said after Monza that it is now too late, given Antonelli has moved further clear in the standings.Vasseur still felt it was too early to do that in any case, as he pointed out that had McLaren backed Oscar Piastri over Lando Norris for last year’s championship at a similar early stage in proceedings, Max Verstappen would have snatched the title for Red Bull. Vasseur has doubled down on this stance on arrival in Madrid.This difference between the two scenarios is that McLaren had 2025’s fastest car, and Ferrari does not in 2026, which adds to the logic of galvanizing around its lead driver in the hope of catching Antonelli.In Madrid, Hamilton denied that’s what he was asking Ferrari to do.“It’s really just making sure we’re executing to make sure we get the best result for the team,” he said. “Instead of us working against each other and finishing fourth and fifth, maybe you can work together and get a podium and pull off more points.”For Ferrari to have tripped up so spectacularly at Monza of all races only added to the friction. It’s the one weekend of the year where the team is firmly in the spotlight, the hopes of all of Italy resting up on its shoulders. There’s an unavoidable extra weight.Carlos Sainz, who now drives for Williams, knows that well. He and Leclerc tussled in a very close race as Ferrari teammates at the 2023 Italian GP. Sainz ended up taking third place in that race ahead of Leclerc by just two-tenths of a second.He smiled when The Athletic reminded him of that fight in Thursday’s pre-event news conference.“(At) Monza, you feel an extra level of responsibility — making sure you don’t touch the other guy in the other red car, because it’s Monza,” said Sainz.“In general, that’s the number one rule of motorsport. But maybe (for) Ferrari at Monza, a bit more. You have that in the back of your head, for sure, going into every battle.”In the same press conference, Sainz said he and Leclerc “two or three times a year, we always had a bit of a discussion or an argument,” during their time as Ferrari teammates between 2021-2024.“But after the race or the morning after, we would call each other and sort it out.”Charles Leclerc in the Madring paddock ahead of the 2026 Spanish GP. (Clive Mason / Getty Images)Although there was no contact between Leclerc and Hamilton, the same logic applies. But the need for clearer communication ties into Hamilton’s wider push for change within Ferrari.Through his miserable first year at the team in 2025, he resorted to sending documents explaining what he felt needed to change at the team, as well as holding open discussions with Vasseur, who he’s known more than 20 years from his junior racing days.Vasseur told The Athletic last month that he welcomed Hamilton’s “mega pushing” approach.The 2026 season has been a huge step forward for Hamilton at Ferrari, progress in itself that has partly created this problem, as he is now operating at Leclerc’s level.Leclerc was often out of reach last year, making discussions over rules of engagement pointless. Now Hamilton, who has spoken warmly of the change he’s recognized within Ferrari this year, is seeing more that he wants to be altered.“It’s a longer term process,” Hamilton said of improving communication and execution within the team.“It’s not something we can just change into this weekend. There’s a huge amount of moving parts, there’s a lot of people, there’s a culture that’s been there for a long time and moving big pieces is not so easy.”To Hamilton, internal acknowledgement of a need to improve in this matter was critical. “We’ll probably try things and it still won’t be good,” Hamilton said. “But we’ll eventually get to the point we need.”From Sainz’s experience at Ferrari, he and Leclerc were able to handle any moments of tension or incidents swiftly, saying they would happen a handful of times every year, as is normal with closely-matched teammates. The next morning, they’d get on the phone and sort it out.“I don’t know the way it’s being handled right now, but when I was there in Ferrari with Charles, we would always sort it out among each other and we would get on with it,” said Sainz. “We had a good time.”Leaning on rules of engagement may do little good for Ferrari in the 2026 title fight, such is the gap to Antonelli and the form of Mercedes, which still has a car and engine upgrade in the pipeline for this season.But learning from what happened at Monza is critical for Hamilton, Leclerc and Ferrari if they are to get the team back to the very top in F1 and end the title drought dating back to 2008.For now, Leclerc and Hamilton believe the air is clear and there’s nothing more to say.The test of how true that really — and, to Hamilton’s point, of learning from mistakes — is how Ferrari responds the next time its two drivers get close on the track again.