Smedley tells Ferrari to stop playing fair and ‘back Hamilton’

Ferrari’s 2026 championship ambitions have reached a point where sentiment may have to give way to ruthlessness, according to former Scuderia race engineer Rob Smedley.

With Lewis Hamilton’s title challenge threatening to lose momentum, Smedley has doubled down on his view that Ferrari must stop trying to keep its two-car operation perfectly balanced and instead make a clear choice: back Hamilton and give itself the best possible shot at ending its long wait for a drivers’ championship.

The argument has gained extra bite after the Dutch Grand Prix, where Hamilton emerged frustrated by Ferrari’s handling of its two-driver strategy. The seven-time world champion believed precious time was squandered behind Charles Leclerc, ultimately leaving him fourth at Zandvoort and costing him what he felt could have been a podium opportunity.

Hamilton now sits third in the championship, tied on points with George Russell and 59 points behind Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

For Smedley, Ferrari cannot afford to keep leaving points on the table if it genuinely intends to challenge Mercedes.

‘They have to get behind him’

Smedley believes Ferrari needs to make the kind of hard-edged decisions that championship campaigns demand. Hamilton, in his assessment, has earned priority through his performances so far this season.

“My opinion from the start has always been, if Ferrari want to have an impact on this world championship, they have to get behind him,” he told the High Performance Racing Podcast.

“As hard as that is for Charles and the team that sits on that side of the garage with Charles and all the rest of it, they all work for Ferrari.

“Lewis has had the better run, and that's how it is this year. Lewis has had the better run and done the better job. And I think if they're going to steal points from Mercedes, they're going to do that as a team.

“They haven't got the best car consistently, but they have on occasions got the best car, and they're going to make it count then, and they're going to make sure that Lewis wins.

“On all the other occasions, they're just going to make sure that they maximise Lewis' points.

“This is just about doing what is the sensible thing for the team and trying to maximise Ferrari's position in the world championship.”

It is a brutally pragmatic message, particularly given Leclerc’s status within Ferrari and the years he has spent waiting for a genuine title opportunity of his own.

But Smedley’s argument is that Ferrari cannot simultaneously pursue individual glory for both drivers and expect to maximise its chances against a Mercedes operation currently holding the upper hand.

And former Alpine and Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer sees little reason to disagree.

“To me, you’ve got to focus on what your objective is,” Szafnauer said.

“At a team where a drivers’ world championship for them is more meaningful than a constructors’ world championship… They’ve always been like this, which comes from old man Ferrari.

“So if that’s your objective, then you make every decision in order to meet that objective, and they are not doing it.”

Zandvoort exposes Ferrari’s dilemma

The controversy at Zandvoort provided a particularly uncomfortable example of Ferrari’s dilemma.

Hamilton had been running a different strategy to Leclerc and arrived behind his teammate with fresher tyres. But with overtaking notoriously difficult around the Dutch circuit, the Briton was unable to make meaningful progress while stuck behind the Ferrari ahead.

Only when Leclerc was instructed to pit was Hamilton finally freed – by which point the opportunity to attack the podium had effectively evaporated.

Szafnauer believes the solution should have been straightforward.

“Once you are on different strategies you do it, you just do it [swap positions,” added the former F1 team principal.

“We used to have a rule that if you let the guy go by to attack the car in front, and he can’t get by the car in front but his team-mate is now worse off because he let him by, you swap them at the end.

“It didn’t hurt you at all but at least you allowed that driver to have a chance at attacking. I think Lewis is probably thinking ‘had I got ahead a little bit earlier, I may have finished on that podium’.”

• Read also: Hamilton admits he crossed the line in Ferrari radio outburst

Hamilton’s sarcastic radio message after the incident only amplified the sense of frustration inside the Ferrari camp.

For Smedley, however, the bigger issue extends far beyond one strategic call at Zandvoort. Ferrari has a championship fight to win, and with Mercedes currently controlling the top of the standings, every opportunity matters.

If the Scuderia really wants Hamilton to challenge for an eighth world title, Smedley’s message is unmistakable: pick your man, get behind him and stop wasting chances.

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