Rob Smedley: Ferrari Must Prioritize Hamilton Over Leclerc to Win 2026 Title

Former Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley believes Ferrari has no choice but to prioritize Lewis Hamilton over Charles Leclerc if it wants to capture the 2026 drivers' championship. Despite Leclerc's dominant victory at the British Grand Prix, Smedley argues that an intra-team battle would only hurt the Scuderia's chances against Mercedes.

Why it matters:

With Ferrari trailing Mercedes in the standings, the Scuderia cannot afford to let its two stars fight each other while the Silver Arrows pull away. Hamilton sits third, just 32 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli, while Leclerc is 71 points adrift in fourth after his Silverstone win. Backing the driver with the smaller deficit offers Ferrari a clearer mathematical path to challenge Mercedes and avoid wasting resources on an internal duel.

The details:

• The standings: Kimi Antonelli leads with 179 points, followed by George Russell (154) and Hamilton (147). Leclerc's Silverstone win moved him to 108, leaving him 71 points off the pace.
• Smedley's assessment: On the High Performance Racing podcast, Smedley admitted favoring Hamilton "goes against my own sense of logic" after Leclerc outdrove him at Silverstone. Still, he insisted it is the "one and only strategy" for Ferrari to secure the title.
• The risk: Smedley warned that if Ferrari lets its drivers race freely while chasing Mercedes on car development, the probability of winning the championship "significantly diminishes." The team cannot gamble on two title bids with so many variables ahead.

What's next:

Ferrari now faces an uncomfortable strategic crossroads. The team must weigh Leclerc's emotional Silverstone momentum against the cold numbers of the championship table. If the Scuderia commits to Hamilton, it needs to do so clearly and soon to maximize the remaining races and give the seven-time champion the clear backing he needs to hunt down Antonelli.