Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc’s “strange” Ferrari dynamic questioned by Jacques Villeneuve

1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has weighed in on what he feels is a “strange” dynamic between Ferrari team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. 

The intra-team dynamics at Ferrari has been a huge talking point during the 2026 F1 season, particularly after a major flashpoint occurred at the Italian Grand Prix, where Hamilton and Leclerc clashed on the opening lap of the Maranello outfit’s home race at Monza. 

Ferrari refused to back Hamilton as its number number driver and has continued to keep the pair on equal terms, despite warnings from several F1 observers that doing so would jeopardise its already slim prospects of winning the world championship this year. 

Villeneuve believes the fierce desire from Hamilton and Leclerc to beat each other has caused underlying tension and risks damaging team harmony. 

“If you look at the two Ferrari drivers, they react very strongly to being beaten by their team-mate, much more than any other team - it’s like the end of the world,” Villeneuve told Sky Sports F1. 

“It seems to me to be more important to be ahead of your team-mate than on pole. It’s really a strange balance they have internally there, it’s an internal battle. 

“It’s really strong and it really affects them - you can see both of them go down, go up, just by being ahead of their team-mate.”

Fellow former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya echoed Villeneuve’s observations and feels another coming together between Hamilton and Leclerc is inevitable. 

"They're going to get together again for sure. I mean, they're not going to give each other an inch," the Colombian said during F1 TV’s Weekend Warm-Up. 

"Charles needs to give Lewis a lot of room once, and Lewis is going to go, 'OK, because I was fair to you and you were not fair to me. Now you need to really show me you want to play. You need to earn that respect back.' And if he doesn't, then Lewis is going to be all out, right?”

Leclerc qualified second for Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix after benefitting from a tow from Hamilton, who ended up a disappointed sixth on the grid. 

Speaking ahead of the weekend, Leclerc claimed Ferrari is unfairly scrutinised more than any other team and insists he and Hamilton will always put the team first. 

“I’ve been with Ferrari since 2019 now and I know everything we do is overanalysed, over-discussed, and very often the conclusions that are taken after those kinds of fights are the wrong ones. We only need to speak with Lewis to kind of understand,” Leclerc said. 

“We’ve been doing that all our life, so we both want to win and there’s competition. But we also want to win as a team and to make Ferrari come out on top eventually. So that is the priority.

“But I mean, I enjoy fighting with Lewis and that’s what is exciting in Formula 1, is to be fighting against the best, and Lewis is definitely up there. So, for me it’s a big challenge, but I’m enjoying it.”