Ferrari faces an important dilemma in the 2026 Formula 1 season. Lewis Hamilton is in second place in the drivers’ championship, 31 points ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc, and 50 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli.
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Hamilton has been the most consistent driver for the team in the first eleven rounds of the year, while Leclerc is fourth in the championship. The Monegasque has one win and four podiums but has not been able to keep up with his teammate’s points, who now appears as Ferrari’s main threat in the title fight.
The scenario puts Scuderia boss Fred Vasseur in the position of possibly directing the team’s efforts towards Hamilton. However, the Ferrari boss had already defended, in China, the freedom for both drivers to compete against each other: “I don’t want to ask them to swap or hold positions, because I think that would be unfair. I also think that this way, it’s the best way to build a team,” Vasseur told Sky Sports F1.
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The strategy made sense at the start of the championship, when the fight was still open. Now, however, with Hamilton 50 points behind Antonelli and only eleven races remaining, allowing the two drivers to fight for positions without any priority could cause Ferrari to lose important points in the championship battle.
On the other hand, the 31 points separating Hamilton and Leclerc can still be recovered. Establishing a hierarchy at this moment could also affect Leclerc’s motivation and the internal atmosphere within the team, especially if Hamilton’s title bid loses momentum during the second half of the season.
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