28 points behind Charles Leclerc in the championship, Lewis Hamilton should now benefit from a number one status at Ferrari according to Rob Smedley, who believes that the Scuderia must bet everything on the Briton.
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Should Ferrari now clearly choose its side between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc? For Rob Smedley, former engineer of the Scuderia, the answer is yes.
After twelve rounds, Hamilton is in third place in the championship with 183 points. The seven-time world champion is tied with George Russell and trails the leader Kimi Antonelli by 59 points. Above all, he now has a 28-point lead over his own teammate.
While Mercedes seems to have lost part of its impressive dominance from the start of the season and McLaren is also coming back very strong, Smedley believes that Ferrari still has a card to play. But to keep a chance of winning the drivers’ title, Maranello should now make Hamilton its priority.
“Ferrari must line up behind Hamilton”
For Smedley, the sporting momentum observed since the start of the season justifies a much clearer hierarchy between the two Ferrari drivers.
“My opinion from the start has always been that if Ferrari wants to have an impact on this world championship, it must line up behind him,” he said on the High Performance Racing podcast.
A decision obviously difficult to accept for Leclerc, present at Ferrari since 2019 and long considered the flagship of the Italian project.
But the former engineer of Felipe Massa reminds that individual interests must now come behind those of the team.
“As hard as it may be for Charles and for the team working on his side of the garage, they all work for Ferrari.”
According to him, the performances today speak in favor of the Briton.
“Lewis has had the best momentum, that’s how it is this year. Lewis has had the best results and he has done the best job.”
Zandvoort revived the debate at Ferrari
This stance comes just days after a particularly tense Dutch Grand Prix for Ferrari.
Hamilton had adopted a different strategy from Leclerc and had fresher tires when he quickly caught up with his teammate. The Briton then asked Ferrari to facilitate his passage in order to continue his climb towards the podium.
The Scuderia, however, was slow to intervene. Leclerc eventually pit, freeing Hamilton, but the seven-time world champion lost several seconds behind the second Ferrari.
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Hamilton eventually finished fourth, less than a second behind George Russell. He then felt that the time lost behind his teammate probably made the difference in his quest for the podium.
An episode that precisely illustrates, in Smedley’s eyes, why Ferrari must now clearly define its priorities.
Bet everything on Hamilton to beat Mercedes
Ferrari does not systematically have the fastest car, but the SF-26 has shown that it can occasionally compete with Mercedes and now McLaren.
For Smedley, this means that every opportunity must be exploited to the fullest.
“They don’t constantly have the best car, but they have had it sometimes. In those moments, they must take advantage and make sure Lewis wins.”
And when Ferrari is not able to fight for victory, the goal should remain the same: to maximize at all costs the number of points scored by Hamilton.
“In all other situations, they must simply make sure to maximize Lewis’s points.”
Such a policy could therefore lead Ferrari to ask Leclerc to give up a position or adopt a strategy designed to favor his teammate if circumstances require it.
A choice that could become explosive
Smedley insists, however, that it would not be about favoring Hamilton for personal reasons, but simply adopting the strategy offering Ferrari its best chances in the championship.
“It’s simply about doing what’s reasonable for the team and trying to maximize Ferrari’s position in the world championship.”
With still a large part of the season to play, 59 points remain a significant gap for Hamilton behind Antonelli. But the recent momentum of Mercedes and the rise of Ferrari and McLaren have revived a battle that seemed almost decided a few weeks earlier.
The question now is how far Ferrari is willing to go. After the strategic tensions at Zandvoort, openly asking Charles Leclerc to play the lieutenant to Lewis Hamilton could turn the fight for the title into a particularly sensitive subject at Maranello.
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