With 10 rounds of F1 racing in the books, what is abundantly clear is that the driver title while still up for grabs, could be slipping further away from Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton.
Bold action is needed here and now!
Antonelli’s engine failure and gaining no points in Barcelona coupled with a bold strategy and a flawless drive from Hamilton to give him is first Grand Prix win as a Ferrari driver basically brought Russell and Hamilton hurtling back into the championship picture.
You fast forward to Silverstone and another weekend where the championship leader Antonelli came away with no points while Hamilton finished a botched 3rd vs 2nd due to a poor call to pit him after a late safety car which then undoubtedly cost him second place to Russell – yes, it is a 3-point swing between Russell and Hamilton, but we may yet see razor thin margins decide this thing. Students of the racing game are well aware of 1958,1961, 1964, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1994, 2007, and 2008.
Prior to the Belgian Grand Prix, Antonelli your championship leader was stuck on 179 points, his teammate George Russell was lurking 25 points behind at 154, but it was the 3rd place man that had the grid and the entire F1 racing world buzzing in a most excited manner – An in-form Lewis Hamilton was 32 points off the lead with 13 rounds to go!
That was then ….
Antonelli blitzed the field in Belgium. Russell had a DNF due to a racing incident with Hamiton. A bewildering 5 second timed penalty for Hamilton after said racing incident with Russell that probably cost him a podium finish, leaves us in a much different place this morning. The end result of which puts Kimi on 204 points, 50 ahead of Russell now in 3rd place and 4 adrift of Lewis, and 45 points ahead of Hamilton – The saying, “It gets darkest before it turns absolutely pitch black” might be upon us at Ferrari.
Let us get to the real reason we are having this discussion….
Ferrari need to invoke team orders and give Lewis Hamilton preferred driver status, and they need to do it NOW!
Funny that you are asking why?
Ferrari’s rate of development and the success it is seeing from the development is real and they seem to be closing the gap to Mercedes, they need to take advantage of that quickly because getting past both Antonelli and Russell will be no easy feat. Impossible for most, not for Lewis.
What was universally hailed as the single most consequential driver move in the history of F1 by having the greatest Formula One driver of all times with his championship skillset still intact, joining the most storied team in F1 and having that partnership now staring at the real possibly of winning a championship – this should not even be a debate. They need to prioritize Hamilton and they need to start doing that today.
His vast reservoir of experience and his cool, calm, and collected composure under pressure in a tight championship battle is exactly what you will need to win against this vaunted Mercedes pairing of Russell and Antonelli. Lewis has been here before; Leclerc has not and that matters. You cannot discount that type of experience in a big spot. If you doubt me go see Brazil 2021. When it matters most, you are going need a guy who can, in real time understand what is happening around him, make bold setup calls, be patient enough to manage his tires when and where necessary, and be in the thick of it when it is all being decided. That guy is Lewis Hamilton.
It is Hamilton’s leadership and is push with granular specificity on how the car should be developed that has gotten them here. Using his championship pedigree, he has pushed for specific changes to the car since the start of the season and they are winning races and producing great results based on the direction he has chosen – proof positive that he is the guy that can take you to the promise land. Leclerc is really good; Hamilton is greatness personified – there is a difference.
And through goes Hamilton…….
Mercedes is the team to beat; there is no equivocating about that. They are clearly faster and a well-run outfit that rarely puts a foot wrong, but they have two drivers that are going to take points off each other in a fight for Mercedes inter-team dominance as well as the title – this presents an opportunity for Ferrari to focus their development and strategy in one place for a Hamilton title push with good rearguard support from Charles. Leclerc must be asked to play the role of Checo Perez this season, he may not like it, but that is what is needed from him right here, right now if this team wants to return to glory in 2026.
An easy example is going back to 2022 where Leclerc had a 40-point lead in the championship battle, but Ferrari continued to split strategy and development attention between Sainz and Leclerc only to be gobbled up by a barnstorming Verstappen. Today, Hamilton sits 45 points adrift of Antonelli and 35 points ahead of Leclerc with an extremely strong Mercedes team to overcome, so I say this is the hill they should choose to die on.
Making the call now to prioritize Hamilton does not make Leclerc any less of a good driver, but if the goal remains to a win championship, then Ferrari must make the hard call to prioritize Hamilton while we have a title fight that is still something to be excited about. Basic math, Hamilton is closer to the lead than Leclerc is and him getting past Russell as the first challenge to then overcome a moving 78 point deficit at the top seems daunting. I do not see him getting home from where he sits now – then there is no debate about what should happen next.
Make no mistake, Mercedes and both Mercedes drivers are the team to beat, but Ferrari needs to relish this fight with Hamilton leading it because they have the right guy to go to war with. Be bold and give him the very best chance to win, he will do the rest.
