Lewis Hamilton has often endured teammate relationships which are founded on friction. In his first season in Formula One, he was paired with the current double world champion, Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard had left Renault for McLaren and expected to walk into the team as the undisputed leader. Yet to Fernando’s surprise, Lewis was quickly up to speed, and at round one in Australia he went wheel to wheel with his teammate.
At the Monaco Grand Prix, which Fernando won, Hamilton was most vocal about the imposition of team orders during the race. But it was at the Hungarian Grand Prix that year that the tension reached breaking point.
During a qualifying session fuelled by a breakdown in team instructions regarding who had track priority for their final tyre runs, Alonso sat stationary in his pit-stop box for an extra 10 seconds after his tyres were changed. This deliberately blocked Hamilton from getting out in time to start his final flying lap. Alonso was penalised, the relationship between him and team boss Ron Dennis was fractured completely, and the McLaren garage went toxic.
Clashes with Button and the Telemetry Leak
Jenson Button raced alongside Lewis at McLaren in his final three seasons. Button would finish ahead of Hamilton twice in the championship, something which had never happened before. In their third year together in 2012, Hamilton was negotiating with Ron Dennis for a massive pay increase, and the McLaren boss was publicly irritated by Hamilton’s interviews on the matter.
The writing was on the wall for Lewis as Dennis made a public statement to the effect that he was the team boss and it was he who would decide the pay of his drivers. At Spa-Francorchamps, once again Button was outperforming his teammate throughout the weekend, and having been outqualified by almost a second by his teammate, Lewis Hamilton vented on Twitter.
He complained that Button had the newer rear wing while he was stuck with the older specification, claiming he was losing time on the straights. The following morning before the race, Hamilton posted an image of car telemetry data—showing technical parameters such as acceleration, braking, and ride height—apparently trying to illustrate the difference between his car and Button’s.
McLaren reacted immediately and furiously. Communications chief Matt Bishop confronted Hamilton and ordered him to take the post down right away, warning that exposing sensitive technical data breached his contract and handed rival teams valuable insights into McLaren’s package. Hamilton deleted the tweet and apologised. Button later said he was “surprised and disappointed” to see private team data aired publicly, though he treated the matter as closed.
Mercedes Years and the Move to Ferrari
Within weeks, Hamilton had announced his move to Mercedes for the following season. There he would face a tumultuous four years alongside Nico Rosberg, who proved that his total beating of Michael Schumacher was no fluke.
Next up was George Russell, who also beat Lewis twice in three seasons, and whilst there were tensions at times, Russell generally played a deferential role to Hamilton when disputes arose. Now Lewis finds himself at Ferrari with an ever-deteriorating relationship with his teammate Charles Leclerc.
Friction and On-Track Battles with Leclerc
Having been eclipsed by Leclerc in his first year with the Scuderia, Hamilton came roaring back with the all-new cars this season. Across the first five rounds, including the Canadian Grand Prix, it was nip and tuck between the pair, with Leclerc having the slight advantage. Then came Monaco and a late red flag to clear the debris from Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin blocking the circuit at the final corner.
At the restart, Leclerc sat third, but come the rolling restart, he too suffered at the final corner as the asphalt was breaking up, hitting the wall and ending his race. A win for Lewis in Barcelona and a DNF for Leclerc saw the gap between the Ferrari pair grow to 46 points come the end of the weekend in Austria.
Hamilton began the public narrative that Ferrari should back him to chase down Kimi Antonelli in the championship, yet his cry fell on deaf ears as team boss Fred Vasseur refused to implement team orders.
Twelve rounds later, Charles Leclerc is within twelve points of Hamilton, meanwhile the pair’s on-track battles have been hitting the F1 headlines. In Monza, Hamilton tried a desperate move down the inside into the first chicane, which meant on the exit of Turn 2 he was forced onto the gravel, losing several places.
At the start in Mexico, where Hamilton had claimed pole position, Charles, starting in P3, used the long straight and the slipstream to good effect. By Turn 1 he was alongside Lewis on the outside of the corner, but yielded as the space disappeared on the exit of Turn 3.
Along the back straight, Leclerc again made it alongside Hamilton on the outside, but both drivers outbraked themselves,allowing Max Verstappen to slip ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc to take the lead. After the race, which was won by Verstappen, Hamilton weighed in on the mentality of his teammate, claiming he would rather Ferrari lose than Hamilton beat him.
Come Brazil, the matter appeared to have been put to bed, with Hamilton claiming they had “squashed” the incident. Yet the fact that Ferrari have two competitive drivers is causing the team difficulties.
Contract Stakes and Ralf Schumacher’s Verdict
Lewis Hamilton had negotiated a three-year contract with Ferrari with a potential extension to 2028, although that is unlikely to be in the hands of the driver alone. The battle for supremacy within the team is in effect the existential fight for Lewis to extend his F1 career beyond 2027. Should he fail to get a new deal at Ferrari, it would be surprising for Hamilton to find himself at a team like Aston Martin or Fernando Alonso—both ex-world champions.
This is why Hamilton has been agitating all season for number one status and for rules of engagement between the Ferrari teammates to be codified.
Yet up against Charles Leclerc, Hamilton is racing one of the finest drivers on the grid, and ex-F1 driver Ralf Schumacher claims Lewis doesn’t deserve to be offered the number one role in the team. Speaking to Sky Germany, he says: “The problem is that he is simply not fast enough compared to Leclerc.
“If he were clearly better than his teammate, like my brother was back then, this discussion wouldn’t even exist. He is the one causing it. [Hamilton must] always make sure he’s ahead and be a second or half a second faster than Leclerc. Win every race or at least finish ahead of him—it’s that simple.”
Schumacher goes on to blast Lewis for his attitude at the Mexican Grand Prix, describing him as American gangster “Al Capone” for his threats to the Ferrari pit wall. “What I have a problem with is the drama that followed. You don’t demand a penalty for your teammate over the radio,” Schumacher added.
“Then to speak like Al Capone and threaten that ‘we have big, big problems’—from my point of view, the dog is walking the owner.”
What Comes Next for Ferrari and Ollie Bearman
Whether Lewis Hamilton thought he would go to Ferrari and conquer Leclerc with ease is uncertain, but he knew his time at Mercedes was coming to an end. Again facing another one-year deal with Mercedes, when he was demanding an ambassador role and a guaranteed driving contract for several years, Lewis could see the writing on the wall and called up Ferrari.
Ferrari have not delivered a car good enough to win the title last year or this, and their homegrown talent in Leclerc has performed well against the seven-time champion. And it’s difficult to see how Ferrari can retain Hamilton’s services beyond 2027, as it is defeating the purpose of the team’s young driver academy.
Ollie Bearman is arguably the second-best rookie to come into F1 in the past two seasons, and come the end of next year he will have completed three years within the sport. Haas F1 are unlikely to be able to meet his ambitions, so it’s either promotion to Ferrari for 2028 or he’ll start looking elsewhere for a more competitive drive.
Losing Bearman would be a blow to the Ferrari hierarchy and could potentially cost them stability going forward in the post-Hamilton era. Unless Hamilton returns to his peak and challenges for the championship next season, the team would be wise to sign Bearman for 2028 and allow Lewis a big send-off year.
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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.
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.
