Ferrari warned it faces “first real test” of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc F1 dynamic

Ferrari faces its “first real test” of the dynamic between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc after the Dutch Grand Prix, according to former Formula 1 presenter Will Buxton.

Both Hamilton and team-mate Leclerc were left frustrated with Ferrari’s strategy at Zandvoort, with the seven-time world champion feeling the Italian outfit’s indecision cost him a potential podium finish. 

Hamilton, who was on a different tyre strategy and the quicker driver at the time, wanted Leclerc moved aside sooner but Ferrari opted against using team orders. Instead, it pitted Leclerc two laps later. 

“Great way of wasting time, good job,” Hamilton sarcastically told Ferrari over team radio after losing time stuck behind Leclerc, with overtaking difficult at Zandvoort. 

Hamilton made a point of comparing Ferrari with how decisively Mercedes had acted in asking its drivers to swap positions in a similar situation at the same race. 

Speaking on the Up to Speed podcast, Buxton accused Ferrari of being “so scared of losing, they can’t win”. 

“Is this Ferrari’s first real test, of the Charles-Lewis relationship?” Buxton said. 

“If not a test of their relationship a test of how the team handles it because Charles is the golden child, always has been. He’s Ferrari through and through, probably never going to race anywhere else. It’s his place and he’s been there since he was a kid. 

“Then you’ve got Lewis. The GOAT, seven-time world champion and you can’t please both. On an F1 team, one driver is going to be pissed and one driver is going to come out happy. That’s just how it works, especially in these kind of scenarios. 

“You can’t have to take your medicine sometimes and realise that you are going to piss one of them off. You can’t keep both of them happy in every single eventually. It doesn’t happen. 

“Lewis has experience of a team that executes immediately at Mercedes and he wants that championship-winning mentality at Ferrari, because unless you have that you are never going to win a title. 

“So I can see the frustration in Lewis of being like ‘guys we’re making ourselves look like dicks here. This is stupid’, because he has experience of the other side of the coin. 

“Is it a Ferrari problem? Is it a Charles-Lewis problem? How quickly do they have to nip it in the bud? Do they have to just figure out what they are doing and actually get it written down or understand that the level of execution they have at the moment just simply isn’t what a championship-winning team has.”

“Mercedes are thinking solely about what’s best for the team and Ferrari are dithering on the pit wall because they are trying not to upset their drivers. It’s a little bit McLaren, isn’t it? Can’t upset the drivers, ‘oh what do we do?’ Got to keep both of them happy because two number ones. Indecision is still a decision.” 

Hamilton, who is third in the world championship and 59 points behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli, admitted his radio outburst at Ferrari was not “the best version” of himself in a social media post reflecting on the weekend.