“It’s difficult, but fortunately for Fred, his man management has been incredible. That’s been one of his skillsets coming through the junior formulas and into F1, the way he manages drivers. He ran Charles at Sauber, Alfa Romeo, he’s brought him here, they can have a difficult conversation. Lewis, they’ve had this relationship for how many years now? They can have that difficult conversation.
“I think it is going to have to be them sat in a room, lock the door, get a bit of paper out, and have some hard truths. I’m not sure I would pick any team boss other than Fred, currently, to have that conversation. It’s got to be a tough conversation. They’ve got to have some home truths.”
Those incidents aside, Valsecchi thinks Monza has also shown that Ferrari are still too far away to put pressure on Mercedes in either championship battle – Hamilton trailing Kimi Antonelli by 76 points, and 122 points separating the two teams.
“We need to be realistic,” he commented. “We need to remember that after the fight [between the Ferraris], there was a red flag, and then a restart. Hamilton was immediately in the fight for taking the victory or a podium. He was eighth, Antonelli 12th, at the restart, and they [Ferrari] were not quick enough.
“The Mercedes engine scared the others, because today Mercedes were unbelievably strong. There was Alpine, there was [Lando] Norris, there was [Oscar] Piastri, and then there was Ferrari. So, if we want to be realistic, if we are going in the next few races where there are long straights, the Mercedes engine will have some advantage, and that is clear.”