The Ferrari driver infighting shows no sign of abating as Lewis Hamilton questioned his teammate’s mentality after their incident at the Mexico City Grand Prix. The assumption has been that had the pair not raced each other so hard at the start of the Grand Prix, Ferrari would have come home with a famous 1-2.
Yet this was never a certainty, and it appeared the Red Bull strategy with Max Verstappen starting on the medium tyre,whilst his rivals at the front were on the soft, was in fact the winning way of approaching the race.
Hamilton had been agitating in the summer for Ferrari to name him as the number one driver in a bid to chase down Kimi Antonelli in the drivers’ championship. Yet the Scuderia—once famous for selecting a number one driver in Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso—don’t operate this way any more.
Behind Closed Doors in São Paulo
More talks were held at the team hotel in São Paulo, with Fred Vasseur refusing to reveal the exact outcome of the meeting.
“I’m not sure that Toto ten years ago told you exactly the content of the discussion with Nico and Lewis, and I will do exactly the same,” said the Ferrari boss.
“We had the discussion. It has to stay private. It’s a matter of respect also for them and for the team. But once again, the most important is the message. The message is that we are working for a brand, we are working for sponsors, but I would say we are probably mainly working for the employees of the team.”
“It was good to discuss, good to clarify my position and their position. Now we turn the page and we are focused on the next one. I’m not asking them to be best friends,” concluded Vasseur.
Pundits Weigh In on the Driver Hierarchy
The narrative coming from Lewis Hamilton that it was Leclerc’s fault for being too aggressive when trying to overtake his teammate has been thoroughly scrutinised this week, and 1996 drivers’ champion Damon Hill didn’t help matters when he intervened on social media.
“Here is where I stand on the Lewis v Charles debate: make Lewis #1 Ferrari driver. Sort it out. Make it clear. Ends all debate. Lewis will deliver for Ferrari. If they back him 100%.”
Yet back in 2023, when certain paddock voices clamoured for Ferrari to make Charles Leclerc number one and Carlos Sainz number two, Fred Vasseur insisted the team did not operate in that manner. He again reiterated this position earlier this season, choosing to emphasise how having two number one drivers pushes the team further forward. Speaking to Auto Hebdo, Vasseur argued:
”At Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari you see the same pattern: one week one driver is faster, and the next week it flips.That’s part of racing.”
The Montoya Perspective on Vasseur’s Authority
However, Ferrari does not operate in the same fashion as McLaren and Mercedes, as former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya argues. The Colombian was driving for McLaren when Lewis Hamilton was just a reserve and test driver.
Speaking to Spanish publication AS, Montoya argues that Fred Vasseur does not have the power to control Hamilton as Toto Wolff did at Mercedes:
“The thing is, we don’t see what goes on in internal meetings. So, how can you judge Fred without knowing what he’s actually doing? From the outside, you’d say, or assume, that, yes, he needs to be tougher. But it would be very unfair to say that about Fred without knowing how he operates internally.“
Juan Pablo believes that Fred Vasseur is not in fact the final arbiter within the team, comparing him more to Bradley Lord at Mercedes, their deputy team principal.
Lessons from the Golden Era of Todt and Montezemolo
Since the days of Jean Todt as Ferrari team boss, the team has won just one F1 title, and the reason many would argue is down to how the F1 racing team operates within the wider Ferrari group.
Back in the early 1990s, the then Ferrari president, Luca di Montezemolo, made a decision to recruit a French team principal, and importantly, he did not interfere with Todt’s decision-making and the operation of the team.
Montezemolo returned to lead Ferrari in 1991 and realised the Scuderia required an outsider with a rigorous and uncompromising management style to mend the broken culture in Maranello. He hired Jean Todt in 1993 and famously gave him the autonomy to restructure the racing division.
Todt, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne, and Michael Schumacher operated as a tightly knit management team resisting all corporate meddling. Having spent 16 intense years turning Ferrari around into an unstoppable juggernaut, Todt eventually felt it was time to move on, quitting Maranello to run for the presidency of the FIA.
Contractual Roadblocks and Corporate Realities
Fred Vasseur does not have the authority of Jean Todt, and the simple matter is it’s not his decision whether to establish a number one driver in the team. Lewis Hamilton’s appointment was very much a decision that Ferrari president John Elkann was involved with—described by some Italian writers at the time as a corporate marriage of convenience.
Hamilton may argue all he likes that Ferrari could learn from Mercedes’ success by implementing the way they operate—for instance, the infamous internal driving standards tome which regulated what Hamilton and Rosberg could and couldn’t do in great detail.
However, this week F1 business journalist Marc Limacher posted on Twitter:
“I hear that Charles Leclerc has had a preferential equity clause (sportive and technical) in his contract since 2020. This would prevent the establishment of written engagement rules.”
Clearly, this information has been leaked from somewhere within Ferrari and may be intended to put the lid on the debate over whether Vasseur should implement internal driving standard rules.
Would you like to see more TJ13 Formula 1 coverage? Add us to your favourites list on Google to receive trusted F1 news.
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.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
