Lewis Hamilton joined Ferrari as he feared he was about to lose his seat at Mercedes. His first season with the Scuderia was an unmitigated disaster as he was trounced by his teammate Charles Leclerc and racked up the unwanted record of the Ferrari driver who went the longest in history before claiming a podium finish.
The seven-time world champion never got to grips with the ground-effect era cars, but with the dawn of the all-new 2026 F1 regulations, Hamilton has once again found his form. The British driver again trails his teammate in the head-to-head qualifying stats 5-8, but in terms of Grand Prix finishes, he leads the Monegasque driver 8-5.
He leads Leclerc by 36 points in the drivers’ standings, and his confidence has returned since the low point of 2025, where in Hungary he declared himself “useless,” suggesting that Ferrari should probably “change the driver.”
The reboot of Hamilton has seen him declare the much-improved 2026 SF-26 is in part the result of his insistence things must change, and in recent weeks he has been calling on the team to name him the number one driver in an attempt to chase down Mercedes.
The Turning Point in Monza
Coming into Ferrari’s home race in Monza, Hamilton had criticised the Scuderia for failing in their “teamwork.” Whilst praising the work of the engineers back in Maranello, his fire was aimed at the race team and their operations.
The battle between the Ferrari duo had been nip and tuck until Leclerc’s home race in Monaco. There, after a late safety car, he was running third behind teammate Lewis Hamilton when the disintegrating asphalt at the final turn caused him to crash out of the race.
Next time out in Barcelona, Hamilton recorded only his third win since the 2021 season, where he endured an epic battle with Max Verstappen for the championship. Meanwhile, Leclerc suffered a mechanical failure which forced him to retire from the race.
In just two race weekends, the gap between the Ferrari teammates had leapt from just three points to 40. Two rounds later in Silverstone, a win for Leclerc was the beginning of his comeback as the deficit was reduced to just 39 points.
Despite him crashing out of the recent Italian Grand Prix and Hamilton scoring solid points, the difference between the Ferrari drivers is now just 36 points. Yet since the British Grand Prix, Hamilton has been upping the ante on Ferrari, stating they should favour him in the push to reign in championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
Chicane Clash and Rules of Engagement
Matters came to a head in Monza when the pair came together during the second corner of the first chicane, where Hamilton ended up in the gravel, falling from P4 to P10. “Charles pushed me off,” Lewis exclaimed over team radio, and in the media pen after the checkered flag, he continued to insist he had been wronged by his teammate.
“I was ahead in Turn Two by the apex – I was ahead,” Hamilton insisted. That said, the ruling over where the apex of a corner really is, is ambiguous. A driver taking different lines through a corner will reach the closest point to the edge of the track in different places compared to another on a traditional line.
TV pundits disagreed over who was at fault for the incident, with Sky F1’s Martin Brundle backing Leclerc to be ahead. Nico Rosberg, commentating on the Italian media, was adamant it was Hamilton who was ahead.
Rosberg was Hamilton’s teammate for four years at Mercedes, and as the competition between them for the world championship ignited, the rivalry became bitter. Team boss Toto Wolff concocted a rules-of-engagement handbook after the pair took each other out while leading the Spanish Grand Prix.
Hamilton now believes this is how Ferrari should begin to operate, although the incidents between teammates have on the whole been relatively minor this season. Back in China, Lewis described their wheel-to-wheel racing as being a “kiss or three,” but other than that, the Ferrari pair have kept it clean.
Culture Clashes in Maranello
In his post-Monza media interviews, Hamilton appeared to argue for a Mercedes-style rulebook to define on-track action between Ferrari’s drivers. “I think it comes down to rules of engagement,” he stated. “When I was at Mercedes, we had a written rule of engagement. We never really, really had it too bad – maybe between me and Nico a couple of times – but more often than not it was good.”
Rose-tinted spectacles, eh, Lewis? It was at times as bad as any F1 teammates’ rancor, including Prost and Senna. Lewis went on to reveal at Ferrari, “there are no rules, and I think that’s something that we need to try and address.”
The problem for Hamilton is he opened the door for questions over the difference between Mercedes and Ferrari culture. He attempted to shut that down by suggesting their media now in fact had an agenda. “I know what you guys are trying to do,” he said. “I don’t want to get into arguing and fighting about my team.
“At the end of the day, I’m trying my hardest to make this team and help this team get to where it needs to be. We didn’t do so well today, but it’s painful enough as it is to be badgering my guys. They go home to their families, they’re working really, really hard. Yes, we didn’t get it right today. It isn’t good enough.”
Pressure Mounts on Leadership
Hamilton has indeed pushed Ferrari to the top of the F1 media agenda, with his comments appearing to criticise team boss Fred Vasseur debated endlessly in the few days since the Italian Grand Prix.
“Ultimately, it comes from the top and it trickles down as decisions,” remarked Hamilton. “It starts with Fred. There’s only so much you can say, so much you can push and shove at the mountaintop.” Lewis also called for Vasseur to question ‘the other side of the garage’ and how they were behaving.
As F1’s most iconic team, Ferrari have their traditions and culture, along with the national characteristics of being Italian. For Hamilton to call on Ferrari to copy Mercedes will be a red rag to a number of the senior staff.
The suggestion is that Ferrari don’t know what they are doing and their German rivals have it nailed. Hamilton turning on his team in Monza has even led to speculation that Vasseur’s position is in jeopardy. Once again, the ghost of Christian Horner has been mooted as a potential replacement for the Frenchman, given the ex-Red Bull boss has previously been approached by Ferrari.
Ironically, with Christian Horner in charge at Ferrari, Hamilton would find his wings clipped severely by the no nonsense team boss. Far from uniting his team in their endeavors to close the gap to Mercedes, Hamilton is opening old divisions in Maranello, and the result will not be a positive one should the blame game return again amongst the senior staff.
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A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
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Hamilton is toxic. Always has been.
Here’s hoping Ferrari boot him