An eighth world title is “just sitting there” for Lewis Hamilton, according to Damon Hill, and Ferrari only need to make one decision to go after it: back him, and no one else.
The 1996 world champion told Sky Sports’ The F1 Show that the Scuderia should make Hamilton their outright lead driver for 2027 and build the entire campaign around him, calling him an “extraordinary individual” who has already “rebuilt himself” since the move from Mercedes. If Ferrari turn up next year with a car that can win, Hill argued, splitting the effort between Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will cost them the championship.
Hill first made the call publicly days earlier, in a social media post that followed his BBC 5 Live commentary from Mexico.
“Make Lewis #1 Ferrari driver. Sort it out. Make it clear,” he wrote on 6 November.
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The problem he wants Ferrari to solve is not abstract: Hamilton and Leclerc collided on the opening lap at the Mexico City Grand Prix on 1 November, a tangle that handed the win to Max Verstappen and cost the team a likely one-two.
Davidson: Hamilton has to earn it
Not everyone on the Sky panel agreed. Former F1 driver Anthony Davidson pushed back, arguing that a team only anoints a number one when a driver has forced the issue on track.
“You have to earn that status in the team,” Davidson said, drawing the comparison with Verstappen at Red Bull, where the Dutchman built his preferential standing through results before the team structure bent around him.
On that measure, Hamilton has not yet done enough at Ferrari to justify Leclerc being asked to stand aside.
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Vasseur unmoved after the Sao Paulo meeting
Fred Vasseur has already answered the question, and his answer is not what Hill wants to hear. After sitting Hamilton and Leclerc down ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the Ferrari team principal confirmed that the team’s rules of engagement had not changed and that both drivers would continue to race as equals.
“They need to respect each other. They’re two competitors with a fighting spirit, but they need to respect one another,” Vasseur said of the meeting, adding that the priority was respect for the team and the brand rather than a shift in hierarchy.
Verstappen: ‘I’d never have two number one drivers’
The man who benefited from the Mexico collision has his own view on the setup. Speaking to Viaplay over the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend, Max Verstappen said he would run a team differently if it were his to run.
“Many people won’t agree with me on this, but if I were team principal, I’d never have two number one drivers,” the four-time world champion said, arguing that two drivers convinced they should win will never willingly yield to each other.
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Antonelli crowned before Vegas weekend
The debate is unfolding around a championship that is already decided. Kimi Antonelli clinched the 2026 drivers’ title in Mexico with four races still to run, becoming the youngest Formula 1 world champion in the sport’s history.
Behind him, Verstappen sits second on 261 points, Hamilton third on 259, and Leclerc fifth on 245.
Hamilton and Leclerc are back on track at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday 21 November, with the race starting at 8pm local time on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
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