BREAKING: Lewis Hamilton vs Charles Leclerc Laid Bare: ‘Squabbles, Skirmishes and Radio B… read more

Ferrari’s latest team-order drama at the Dutch Grand Prix has highlighted growing tension between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.

 

F1 is back and so is the Ferrari soap opera following a thrilling end to the Dutch Grand Prix last Sunday. Welcome to Lewis Hamilton vs Charles Leclerc.

 

I say soap opera because you get the impression Ferrari do everything they can to kick the hornet’s nest and really irritate their drivers for compelling storyline purposes, even if we of course know in reality that’s nonsense.

 

Well, all of us but the odd conspiracy-loving F1 fans on social media, but I digress.

 

Sunday’s race at Zandvoort ended with Lewis Hamilton fourth ahead of his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in fifth, and both of them were seething after the race.

 

The two were on different race strategies, so when Hamilton, on fresher tyres, came up behind Leclerc in the latter stages of the race, he was incensed that no team orders were given to let him by and try and challenge for a podium.

 

Getting frustrated, Hamilton blasted down the team radio: “We’re just losing time!”

 

Two laps later, when Leclerc pitted, Hamilton still couldn’t contain his frustration, sarcastically snapping: “Great way of wasting time guys, good job.”

 

Ferrari then left Hamilton out for a ridiculously long time, so much so that McLaren and Mercedes were starting to think that they were not going to pit the seven-time world champion.

 

Once their respective drivers Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli passed Hamilton on his shot tyres, the Brit once again launched a Ferrari tirade, saying: “Are you using me as a guinea pig or what the f… what’s going on? How long will you have me stay out?”

 

But don’t just think it was Hamilton who was the only unhappy Ferrari driver.

 

Leclerc had tried to pass Hamilton on the final lap, only for his team-mate to defend strongly as they nearly collided.

 

What did Leclerc have to say over the radio? Only he and the team know, because his transmission was ‘blacked out’ according to respected Italian outlet La Gazzetta Dello Sport.

 

However, when he crossed the finish line just fractions behind Hamilton, he pulled up alongside him and shook his head.

 

To date, the Hamilton and Leclerc dynamic has worked for Ferrari. The two have plenty of respect for each other and are a long way from the carnage that Hamilton, for instance, had with Rosberg at Mercedes.

 

But these incidents are starting to add up.

 

Take last year at the Miami Grand Prix, when Ferrari annoyed Hamilton and Leclerc when they kept asking the drivers to swap positions, or even in Azerbaijan when Leclerc let Hamilton through to attack the car in front on the understanding he would get the place back if Hamilton didn’t succeed.

 

Hamilton didn’t make progress and neither did he slow down enough at the finish line to let Leclerc back through, with Leclerc quipping afterwards: “There was an agreement that wasn’t respected, but it doesn’t matter. Let Lewis enjoy his eighth place.”

 

This is an important quote to consider.

 

Last season, team-mate squabbles over agreements, etc., didn’t matter because Ferrari had a slim chance at very best of winning races.

 

Now, much more is at stake: race wins and perhaps even championships.

 

Leclerc doesn’t care about eighth place, but he does when bigger prizes are on the line — as does Hamilton.

 

Hamilton is still in the title hunt, even if he is now 59 points behind series leader Kimi Antonelli.

 

Leclerc has been making gains on his team-mate weekend by weekend too since Silverstone and now only trails by just 28 points.

 

So Hamilton will now feel he needs all the help he can get to win the F1 title, coded for ‘make me No.1 driver’, while Leclerc will simply say he is now outscoring Hamilton regularly and is their fastest driver.

 

That should be quite the scenario to manage ahead of next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Ferrari’s home race, where there will be huge pressure to maximise results.

 

It’s becoming quite a tense environment inside Ferrari, and Monza risks igniting a powder keg if either Hamilton or Leclerc suffers team-order misfortune again.

 

It seems unthinkable to happen again so soon, but remember: this is F1’s biggest soap opera.