Ferrari Urged to Support Hamilton in Title Fight

The storm that brewed over Lewis Hamilton’s radio in Zandvoort is refusing to clear. Now, one of Ferrari’s most respected former insiders is calling for a hard reset in Maranello: if Ferrari truly want to shape this year’s title fight, they must back Hamilton over Charles Leclerc.

Rob Smedley, who spent years inside the Scuderia machine, did not dance around the issue on the High Performance Racing Podcast. Hamilton, he argued, has earned the right to be the team’s spearhead.

“As hard as that is for Charles and the team that sits on that side of the garage with Charles and all the rest of it, they all work for Ferrari,” Smedley said, cutting straight to the core of the debate that has simmered since the Dutch Grand Prix.

At Zandvoort, Hamilton’s frustration spilled out over team radio as he ran an alternative strategy and demanded that Ferrari instruct Leclerc to move aside. The message was blunt. The subtext even clearer: if there is a lead driver in this project, it should be him.

Smedley believes the numbers and performances back that view.

“Lewis has had the better run and done the better job,” he insisted. For Ferrari, that has to carry weight. “If they're going to steal points from Mercedes, they're going to do that as a team.”

That is the crux of his argument. Ferrari do not have the class-leading car every weekend. They know it, the paddock knows it. But on the days when the red car comes alive, Smedley believes there can be no internal debate about who gets priority.

“They haven't got the best car consistently, but they have on occasions got the best car, and they're going to make it count then, and they're going to make sure that Lewis wins. On all the other occasions, they're just going to make sure that they maximize Lewis' points.”

No talk of sentiment. No room for ego. Just a call for cold, strategic clarity.

“This is just about doing what is the sensible thing for the team and trying to maximize Ferrari's position in the world championship,” he concluded.

The standings underline the urgency. Hamilton sits level on points with his former Mercedes teammate George Russell, both of them chasing Kimi Antonelli, who holds a 59-point cushion at the top. If Ferrari want Hamilton to drag them into the heart of that fight, Smedley’s message is clear: stop splitting the difference. Pick a leader and live with the fallout.

For Leclerc, that would be a brutal pill. For Hamilton, it would be the confirmation he has been agitating for on the radio. For Ferrari, it could define whether this season becomes a title tilt or just another chapter of what-ifs.

Kelly Piquet’s tender message to daughter Penelope draws Verstappen’s support

Away from the garages and the data screens, a very different kind of emotion surfaced on social media.

Kelly Piquet, partner of Max Verstappen, shared a deeply personal message to her daughter Penelope, offering a rare glimpse behind the carefully controlled world that usually surrounds the three-time world champion’s camp.

The post came a month after Penelope’s birthday. Piquet did not reveal what had unfolded in that time, but her words carried the weight of someone who has been tested and changed by motherhood.

She wrote at length about the lessons her daughter has brought into her life, how the last seven years have reshaped her understanding of care, resilience and gentleness. The message then turned directly to Penelope, with a promise that felt both protective and defiant.

“My P, I will always listen to you, stand up for you, protect your gentleness, and remind you that your feelings matter. I hope your seventh year brings you the peace, freedom, and carefree joy that every little girl deserves.”

It was the kind of post that cuts through the noise of lap times and contract talk. Verstappen, usually guarded in public, offered his support in response, underlining that even in the relentlessly competitive world of Formula 1, some battles and some bonds sit far beyond the reach of a timing screen.

On track, Hamilton and Ferrari wrestle with strategy and status. Off it, Piquet and her daughter quietly navigate their own journey. Different arenas, same truth: the choices made now will echo far beyond this season.