Concerns regarding the growing rift in Maranello – Formula One teams are renown for their secret and almost paranoid attitude to revelations about their cars or working practices. And in an era where we saw the closest ever final qualifying session, not just tenths of a second now matter, but engineers are counting the hundredths too.
Of course the most secret of all are the components within the design of each car as the teams do everything in their power to prevent their rivals from discovering their latest wheeze. Screens are placed across the doors of the pit lane garages, when a car is being assembled or disassembled before work can take place although in recent times the FIA has regulated with the build of the cars complete own a Thursday, the screens must be removed for media purposes.
Whilst technical aspects of an F1 team’s work are strictly kept confidential, the teams prefer to prevent an image to the world that everything behind the scenes is operating smoothly, which is often not the case. Whilst the impact of the accusations made against Christian Horner last season did not include a serious rift within the team, the ensuing media storm was a distraction at race weekend after race weekend and whether or not related, Red Bull Racing took a turn for the worse after the scandal had been revealed.
Hamilton railed against Mercedes engineers
Horner was cleared twice over allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” with a female employee, but awaits a UK employment tribal hearing to be held in January 2026 over the matter. Mercedes struggled to contain rumours of a rift in the engineering department, following their failure to grasp the new 2022 ground effect car design regulations.
Having been assured Mercedes had simply mistepped in the first season of the new car design rules, Hamilton was told the 2023 F1 challenger would see a significant improvement in the areas he complained about. Yet come the season opener in Bahrain that season, the second car failed to deliver much better than its predecessor. This sparked an internal row in Brackley, as revealed by Hamilton who spoke to the BBC’s Chequered Flag Podcast.
“Last year, there were things I told them. I said the issues that are with the car. I’ve driven so many cars in my life so I know what a car needs. I know what a car doesn’t need. I think it’s really about accountability. It’s about owning up and saying: Yeah, you know what? We didn’t listen to you. It’s not where it needs to be and we’ve got to work. We’ve got to look into the balance through the corners, look at all the weak points, and just huddle up as a team. That’s what we do,” Hamilton said.
An just a handful of days later, it was announced that Mercedes were relieving their technical director, Mike Elliot of his duties, with the Mercedes man eventually leaving the team two months later. James Allison was recalled to the role, although his impact on the car’s improvement appeared minimal.
Is Lewis the problem at Ferrari?
Hamilton is now in the centre of another inter-team row at Ferrari. His debut season could be generously described as ‘bumpy’ as the seven times world champion tries to get to grips with the SF-25. The long standing Mercedes driver has come under sever scrutiny, given his team mate is regularly out qualifying him (10-4), finishing ahead in races (12-2) and has claimed five Sunday podiums in a subdued season for the Scuderia, whilst Hamilton has none.
There have been reports about Hamilton not liking the way the Ferrari brakes, which in turn have come back to focus on his driving style which has differences to the way his team mate handles similar situations.
Hamilton’s age has been questioned, with Sky F1’s Anthony Davidson addressing what he described as “the elephant in the room.” Davidson worked for years with Hamilton at Mercedes, often delivering the pre-race weekend simulator analysis for how the car should be setup.
“I feel like this time of reflection for him, as an athlete ages, it does [affect performance],” Davidson said to Sky’s millions of viewers in response to Hamilton’s self flagellation after describing his driving as “useless.” However, former F1 driver and South American TV pundit, Juan Pablo Montoya believes the spotlight should shift away from Hamilton and onto Ferrari itself.
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Ex-F1 driver says Ferrari are are at fault
Speaking on his MontoyAS podcast with AS Colombia, the Colombian argued that Hamilton is not the problem – Ferrari’s culture of impatience and engineering stubbornness is. “When Carlos Sainz arrived at Ferrari, his first year wasn’t good either,” Montoya reminded listeners. “In fact, when Ferrari signed Hamilton, Carlos was still struggling. It was only later that he found his rhythm. If the decision had been made a year later, Ferrari might not even have gone for Hamilton.”
For Montoya, that comparison matters because Ferrari appear unwilling to give Hamilton the same breathing space as they did for his predecessor. The Colombian was candid to the point of being blunt. Hamilton doesn’t need to reinvent himself, the problem may be that Ferrari is struggling to do this for themselves.
“Hamilton has been driving a certain way for many years, and it works,” he said. “The problem is that too many engineers at Ferrari are saying, ‘No, this car needs to be driven differently, this car needs something else.’ But let’s be clear – the SF-25 isn’t exactly a great car either.”
That car, plagued by instability and inconsistency, has made life difficult for both drivers. The infamous disqualification in China for excessive plank wear forced Ferrari to raise the ride height, making the car even more unstable. Mechanical issues, particularly with the suspension, have turned what was supposed to be a step forward into a season-long headache.
Maranello divided
Yet the new pull rod suspension concept was the reason Ferrari abandoned their 2024 car and built a challenger for 2025 that was “99% new”, according to team boss Fred Vasseur. Despite the headline grabbing first constructors’ win for Ferrari last season, they in fact had the quickest car by far over the final six race weekends of the year. They closed a 79 point gap to the “papaya liveried” team to just 14 points come the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi.
The change in suspension concept is believed a move the Maranello engineers felt was important, particularly in light of the high regulation changes coming in 2026., Yet it has been the bain of both the rivers lives during the season to date. Last year the Ferrari drivers claimed 22 podiums, including three wins, but this year the total top three finishes is likely to be in single digits. And unless McLaren self implode with both drivers taking each other out, a win for the Scuderia looks to be a remote possibility.
Neither Hamilton nor Charles Leclerc have been able to extract performances worthy of their reputations. The SF-25’s flawed DNA has kept them off the podium more often than not. Leclerc has adapted more smoothly, consistently finishing ahead of Hamilton, but Montoya cautioned against assuming this is down to a lack of ability from the Briton.
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Time for Hamilton style “accountability”
“Ferrari’s solution can’t just be to tell Lewis to change everything,” Montoya insists. “He’s proven for years that his way of driving delivers results. The team needs to show patience – and give him a car that actually works.”
Deep divisions exist clearly in Maranello, with one Ferrari grandee revealing since Budapest that “90% of engineers” didn’t want the team to sign Lewis Hamilton. Team boss Fred Vasseur was pictured in Ferrari’s hospitality unit in Budapest, with a dark stare and pointing his finger towards the seven times world champion.
Vasseur is has now been given a contract extensions at the end of this season, but no Ferrari announcement was made as to how long is the term. Vasseur is in his third year with Ferrari, but the progress made in his first two seasons appears to have evaporated in terms of the 2025 F1 challenger. If the divisions in Maranello are as deep as some Italian journalists close to the team believe they are, maybe its time for Vasseur to in Hamilton style, call for “accountability.”
Which teams break the F1 summer shutdown?
For fans of Formula One, the summer break feels as though it lasts forever. The idea of a total factory shutdown was first mooted by Eddie Jordan way back in the year 2000. In his characteristically colourful fashion, he argued that the sport should mandate for employees to be given three weeks holiday in August, which included two consecutive weekends.
Of course paddock skeptics pointed to the fact that Jordan had just ordered a new yacht and planned to sail the Mediterranean in August. “We need a period where people can have a break, because we are dealing with a very busy calendar with 18 races,” countered Jordan. Despite being one of the fastest moving sports on the planet, the FIA finally mandated for a two week summer break for F1 employees in 2013.
There must be 24 days between the race weekend before there shutdown and the next Grand Prix after the summer break comes to an end. Within that time the team’s must close their factories entirely for two consecutive weeks – 14 days. The team’s are free to chose when the 14 day complete shutdown must be taken and most will now be firing their factories back up over this weekend….. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
