Ferrari’s dual-number-one project is fraying in public. Ralf Schumacher, speaking on Sky Sports Germany from the paddock in Madrid, reported that team principal Fred Vasseur was openly frustrated with his two drivers only days after their first-lap contact at Monza.
“I got the feeling during our interview yesterday that Fred Vasseur was annoyed and clearly addressed the mistakes,” Schumacher told Sky Sports Germany.
According to Schumacher, Vasseur’s frustration was aimed at both sides of the garage, that neither Hamilton nor Leclerc was putting the team ahead of his own championship. “That has to stop if they’re trying to catch Mercedes,” the former Formula 1 driver added.
Vasseur enforces the ‘basic principles’
Vasseur has not denied the tension so much as tried to contain it. Ahead of the Madrid race, the Ferrari boss said he had already sat both drivers down after Monza.
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“We have had constructive discussions with Lewis and Charles. They have put things in order together, and I have reminded them of some basic principles of my team management,” Vasseur said in his Madrid media appearance.
He also pushed back against Hamilton’s public complaint that Ferrari had no clear rules of engagement.
“Saying there are no behavioral rules does not match reality. You cannot expect contracts to list all possible scenarios on the track, because that would inevitably become a matter of interpretation. The principles are clear internally and the drivers know that well.”
Hamilton’s Monza complaint
The row broke into the open at the Italian Grand Prix on 6 September. Hamilton, starting fourth, tried to pass Leclerc into Turn 1 on the opening lap. He was forced through the gravel, dropped to tenth, and complained over the radio that he had been pushed off.
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Speaking after the race, the seven-time world champion said Ferrari had to change how it managed its drivers.
“Here, there are no rules. We need to address that.”
A lap later, Leclerc’s own race was over. Running third after the Turn 1 contact, the Monegasque snapped the rear at Parabolica on lap two and slammed into the barriers, walking away unhurt. He conceded afterwards that the fight with Hamilton had gone too far.
“With Lewis it was a way too close into Turn 1 and unfortunately in Turn 2, I don’t know if we had contact or whatsoever,” Leclerc told Formula1.com.
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No number one, for now
In an interview with L’Equipe, Vasseur then spelled out the structure Hamilton signed up to when he left Mercedes.
“We’ve chosen to have two number one drivers, two drivers capable of winning races, with this approach of serving both drivers equally,” the Frenchman told the newspaper.
He then went further, pointing out that Hamilton had accepted the arrangement in black and white.
“Lewis knew it. It’s clear in the contract. It’s a strategic choice.”
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Vasseur did leave the door open to picking a side if the math forces him to.
“He might be by the end of the year if, at some point, we find ourselves in a situation where it’s clear he’s the only contender.”
For now, neither Hamilton nor Leclerc is that contender. After the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid on 13 September, both Ferrari drivers turn next to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.
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