David Croft has questioned whether Lewis Hamilton’s close relationship with Ferrari chairman John Elkann could make it harder for Fred Vasseur to exercise full authority as team principal, raising a broader issue over who ultimately controls the Formula 1 operation in Maranello.
The debate comes despite Ferrari making a public effort to reinforce Vasseur’s position. After renewed speculation during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, the team convened the media on Tuesday and stated that its team principal continued to have its full confidence.
David Croft questions Fred Vasseur’s authority at Ferrari
Hamilton had also offered his support to Vasseur following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, although his brief response left some observers unconvinced. The wider discussion has now shifted beyond whether the Frenchman remains in his job and towards the exact balance of power between Vasseur and Ferrari’s senior corporate leadership.
Speaking on the F1 Show, Croft focused in particular on John Elkann. The Sky Sports commentator believes Ferrari’s chairman maintains a hands-on role behind the scenes and questioned how much freedom that leaves Vasseur when major decisions are being made.
Croft argued that Ferrari first needs to establish clearly who is in charge before determining its future direction. If Vasseur has genuine overall responsibility, Croft believes the team principal must also carry the pressure and accountability that comes with the role. But if Elkann and other senior figures make the major decisions while Vasseur handles daily Formula 1 operations, the situation becomes considerably more complicated.
Questions over the influence of Ferrari’s senior management have surfaced elsewhere, with Ferrari’s leadership structure under John Elkann and Benedetto Vigna also coming under scrutiny.
Lewis Hamilton’s John Elkann relationship enters the debate
Croft connected that question to comments previously made by Lewis Hamilton about his relationship with Elkann. Last November, the Ferrari chairman had publicly urged Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to concentrate more on driving and speak less after a difficult period for the team.
Hamilton subsequently dismissed suggestions of tension, explaining that he speaks with Elkann every week and describing their relationship as extremely strong.
Croft stressed that he was not criticising the seven-time world champion for maintaining a close relationship with Ferrari’s chairman. Instead, he questioned whether the visibility of that relationship could undermine Vasseur to some degree if Elkann is as closely involved in the Formula 1 operation as Croft believes.
In Croft’s assessment, a team principal may find it harder to establish authority if a senior executive above him retains significant hands-on influence over major decisions. The issue therefore concerns Ferrari’s management structure as much as the personal relationships within it.
Hamilton’s own relationship with Vasseur has also attracted attention recently. The British driver has historically been one of Vasseur’s strongest supporters and previously indicated that his former junior-category boss played an important part in his decision to move to Ferrari. Recent developments, however, have led to greater scrutiny of that partnership, with Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur appearing increasingly out of sync over Ferrari’s direction.
Ferrari results increase pressure on Fred Vasseur
The leadership discussion comes against a difficult competitive backdrop. Elkann had targeted a Ferrari championship by 2026, but the Scuderia is now highly unlikely to achieve that objective.
Hamilton sits 103 points away from the lead in the drivers’ standings, while Ferrari’s constructors’ championship focus has shifted towards protecting second place rather than challenging Mercedes, who hold a 160-point advantage.
The team has yet to produce a sustained championship challenge since Vasseur replaced Mattia Binotto in 2023, while Ferrari’s title drought stretches back to 2008. With the 2026 campaign failing to deliver the breakthrough expected in Maranello, scrutiny surrounding both results and management has inevitably intensified.
Hamilton has nevertheless continued to show support for Vasseur publicly, including after Baku, where he gave a brief assessment of Vasseur and Ferrari’s internal unity.
Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur have differed over Ferrari driver management
The relationship between Hamilton and Vasseur has faced more difficult moments as the Briton’s championship prospects have faded. After the Italian Grand Prix, Hamilton expressed frustration over the absence of clearly defined rules of engagement between Ferrari’s drivers, comments that amounted to an implicit criticism of how the situation was being managed.
Hamilton also indicated that he wanted Ferrari to prioritise his pursuit of Kimi Antonelli because he held a points advantage over Charles Leclerc. Vasseur rejected the idea of imposing such a hierarchy between his drivers.
Those disagreements do not change Ferrari’s official position that Vasseur retains the team’s confidence. They do, however, provide additional context for Croft’s concern over how authority is divided at the top of the organisation.
With Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari campaign falling short of its championship ambitions and pressure increasing on the Scuderia to deliver, the question Croft has raised extends beyond one relationship. Ferrari must not only decide who should lead its Formula 1 project, but also how much authority that person is genuinely able to exercise beneath Elkann and the company’s senior management.
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