Ferrari told ‘leave Charles Leclerc alone’ amid Lewis Hamilton battle

Otmar Szafnauer has urged Ferrari not to have a formal conversation with Charles Leclerc about his form, saying support, not speeches, are needed as he battles to draw level with Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari stalwart Leclerc got the better of Hamilton last year in their first season together at Ferrari. This year the momentum in their intra-team battle has swung in Hamilton’s favour.

Otmar Szafnauer says Ferrari should support Charles Leclerc

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.

Racing wheel-to-wheel in the early rounds as they fought to join the Mercedes teammates on the podium, Leclerc won two of the opening three battles against his teammate.

But as momentum began to swing in Hamilton’s favour, the gap between the teammates grew so much that when Hamilton clinched the team’s first Grand Prix win of the season in Barcelona, Leclerc, who crashed in qualifying, was fighting just to score points. A hydraulic failure put paid to that.

The Ferrari stalwart did fight back to win the British Grand Prix, with Hamilton joining him on the podium, the first race in a run of three in which he has finished ahead of the seven-time world champion.

But while the deficit between the teammates has been reduced to 31 points, it is still Hamilton who has the better chance of winning the world title as he sits second in the Drivers’ standings. Leclerc is in fourth place, 81 points down on championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

It raises the question: does Ferrari need to have a chat with Leclerc?

“No,” former Alpine and Racing Point team boss Szafnauer told the High Performance Racing podcast. “Leave him alone.

“I would not have a conversation, but be supportive.

“Lewis at the beginning of the year, and I’m not speaking from facts, just the feeling I get, was a little bit more ahead of Leclerc than he is now.

“I think Charles has stepped it up in the last two a little bit towards Lewis.”

Lewis Hamilton v Charles Leclerc: Ferrari F1 2026 scores

F1 2026: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between teammates

F1 2026: Head-to-head race statistics between teammates

Former Ferrari strategist Rob Smedley weighed in, saying he thinks Leclerc has lost his way a bit with the all-new cars.

“I think this is the first time in a long time with Charles where his teammate has had a significant upper hand,” Smedley declared.

“Charles wasn’t happy with the car. I know that they changed components around the braking system, types of material and stuff like that, but it felt like he was just slightly lost for a driver of his experience and how good he is.”

Leclerc changed brakes after his crash at the Monaco Grand Prix, swapping to Carbone Industries brake pads and discs at the Barcelona Grand Prix.

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read Next: Predictions for rest of 2026: Ferrari champions, Mercedes under threat, emergency rules rethink