Former Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley believes the Maranello outfit might have to make the decision to prioritise seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton over Charles Leclerc if it is to stand any real chance of clinching the 2026 drivers’ championship.
Smedley’s comments came after a dramatic British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where Leclerc took an emotional victory, his first grand prix win since 2024 and Ferrari’s 250th win.
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli continues to lead the drivers’ championship on 179 points, followed by his team-mate George Russell on 154. Hamilton sits third on 147 points, remaining well within striking distance of the frontrunners. Meanwhile, race winner Leclerc now sits fourth on 108 points, leaving him 71 points adrift of Antonelli.
During a post-race episode of the High Performance Racing podcast, Smedley argued that, despite Leclerc outperforming Hamilton in the race, Ferrari cannot afford an intra-team battle if it wants to successfully challenge Mercedes.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
“100% agree with that. However, I am going to go against my own sense of logic and say I actually think that doing something as extreme as that is the only chance Ferrari has of winning this world championship,” Smedley explained, addressing a hypothetical scenario of swapping the cars on track during the British Grand Prix with the championship in mind.
“I think that if they play the game of trying to outpace Mercedes in car terms, and then they play the game of allowing the drivers to race each other with such a big gap between Lewis and Charles, the probability significantly diminishes for them to win the drivers’ world championship.
“So, I think that although it goes against my logic, there are too many variables coming up. So why would you ever do it? But I think that is the one and only strategy that they’ve got of Lewis winning this world championship.”
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