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Ferrari must rally behind Lewis Hamilton if it wants to retain a realistic chance of influencing the drivers’ championship, former team engineer Rob Smedley has argued.
The team has so far resisted imposing a clear preference between Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, despite the significant difference in their championship positions. Hamilton is joint-second, 59 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli, while Leclerc sits fifth, 87 points adrift.
That policy came under scrutiny at the Dutch Grand Prix. Hamilton, running on fresher tyres, caught Leclerc, but Ferrari did not instruct the Monegasque to move aside. The decision left Hamilton frustrated and reignited debate over whether Ferrari is sacrificing valuable points by avoiding team orders. The controversy followed a similar discussion in Hungary, where Leclerc inherited fourth place after Hamilton received a five-second penalty; some argued Ferrari should have asked Leclerc to back off.
The latest dispute also follows Hamilton’s criticism of Ferrari’s lost time at the Dutch Grand Prix, which added to questions about the team’s execution at Zandvoort.
Smedley, who worked for Ferrari between 2004 and 2014, believes the team’s reluctance to choose a direction is becoming a competitive weakness. Speaking to High Performance Racing, he said Ferrari needs to support Hamilton if it wants to take points away from Mercedes.
“My opinion, from the start, has always been that, if Ferrari want to have an impact on this world championship, they’re going to have to get behind him,” Smedley said.
He acknowledged that placing Leclerc in a supporting role would be difficult for both the driver and his side of the garage. However, Smedley stressed that the arrangement should be viewed as a response to the current season rather than a permanent status.
“You get to the end of the year and all the points get reset and the drivers can go at it again,” he said. “It’s not a contracted number one status year-on-year.”
Smedley’s central argument is that Ferrari cannot rely on events resolving themselves. The team does not consistently possess the fastest car, but he believes it has occasionally had the strongest package and must convert those opportunities into maximum points for Hamilton.
Ferrari had previously considered the constructors’ championship the more realistic target. It is 87 points behind Mercedes, while McLaren is also emerging as a threat. A successful engine upgrade at Monza could strengthen Hamilton’s title prospects—and intensify the pressure on Ferrari to establish a hierarchy.
At the same time, Ferrari must weigh the competitive gain against the potential psychological impact on Leclerc, who has been with the team since 2019 and recently signed a new contract extending into the 2030s.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.