Ferrari issued stark warning from Charles Leclerc camp as favouritism fears grow

Ferrari have been issued a stark warning from driver Charles Leclerc’s camp as fears around the team favouring seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton are growing.

Hamilton joined the Scuderia at the start of the 2025 season and went on to amass 156 points, as he finished sixth in the World Drivers Championship (WDC), just one place and 86 points behind his Monegasque team-mate.

However, Hamilton has turned it around in his self-proclaimed “above average” season, as the Brit heads into the summer break sat second in the WDC, two places and 31 points ahead of Leclerc.

That has sparked fear from the backing of the nine-time race winner, as his mental coach, Riccardo Ceccarelli, warned about how favouring Hamilton could disrupt the balance within the Scuderia.

He told MotorSport.Com: "You would essentially be telling Charles: from now on, you are the one who has to sacrifice yourself because Hamilton is our number one.

"For a driver like Leclerc, that would be a serious blow to his status, especially since the championship is far from decided and there is no clear necessity for it at this point."

Hamilton currently sits a rather substantial 50 points behind current WDC leader Kimi Antonelli, who replaced the seven-time World Champion at Mercedes, while Leclerc seems an insurmountable 81 points back.

Therefore, perhaps Ferrari’s best interests lie in the Constructors' Championship, where the Italian outfit are currently just 72 points behind leaders Mercedes.

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That is the target that Ceccarelli suggested the Scuderia go for, as he warned that team orders may upset their internal dynamic and not provide the advantage that they require to overturn a significant 50-point gap.

He added: "If Ferrari introduces such a clear hierarchy now, it puts the balance within the team at risk. You only know afterwards whether such a decision was the right one, because titles are sometimes decided by just a few points.”

Despite the claims of Leclerc’s mental coach, Ferrari’s hierarchy still came under fire following the most recent Hungarian Grand Prix for a lack of team orders.

Former driver Jolyon Palmer suggested: “Ferrari had an opportunity to act in Budapest when Hamilton received a five-second time penalty; the team could have asked Leclerc to slow and protect Hamilton’s fourth place. It chose not to.”

That suggests an opposition to Ceccarelli’s claims, as Palmer believes the team should go and support the more experienced driver in a potential title fight.

However, in a recent interview with PlanetF1, the Brit refused to get drawn into the Drivers' Championship, as he said: “I’m not thinking about the second part of the season, I’m just thinking about this weekend and taking it one race at a time.

“I’m just trying to figure out how I can maximise each weekend. I’m genuinely not thinking about future races from here.”

Despite his improved form this season, Hamilton has still only added just one race win in his time in Italy to add to his strong repertoire of 106 victories throughout his career.