Ferrari told prioritising Lewis Hamilton is its “only chance of winning” F1 title

Ferrari has been told that prioritising Lewis Hamilton could present the team with its “only chance” of winning the 2026 Formula 1 drivers’ world championship. 

That is the belief of former Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley, who argued after the British Grand Prix that the Italian outfit may need to back Hamilton over team-mate Charles Leclerc if it is serious about ending its F1 title drought. 

Ferrari has not won a title since clinching the 2008 constructors’ world championship, while Kimi Raikkonen remains the Scuderia’s last driver to win the title, which he achieved in 2007. 

After finishing third at Silverstone, seven-time world champion Hamilton finds himself just 32 points behind championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who failed to score in a troubled race. 

Despite Leclerc taking his first victory since 2024, the Monegasque sits 39 points behind Hamilton and is 71 points adrift of Antonelli. 

Given Mercedes has largely dominated this season - winning seven out of the nine races so far - Ferrari cannot afford for its drivers to take points off each other if it is to maximise its championship chances, according to Smedley. 

"100% agree with that,” Smedley responded to a question on the High Performance Racing podcast when it was put to him that Ferrari could have swapped its cars on track at the British Grand Prix. 

“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. 

"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.”

Ferrari has avoided using team orders this season and has allowed Hamilton and Leclerc to race each other freely. But with Ferrari closing in on Mercedes, talk of a possible title challenge has only increased. 

Ferrari did not shy away from using team orders to boost its championship chances in the past, particularly in the height of Michael Schumacher’s dominance.