Juan Pablo Montoya believes Ferrari should back Lewis Hamilton’s direction to build a title-winning car. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton disagree over Ferrari's development path.

One of the main topics at Ferrari right now concerns its two drivers, as Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc appear to have differing ideas about the car and the path to follow in order to return to fighting for the championship. This situation is certainly not helping the engineers at Maranello, who are undecided whether to continue developing the SF-25 or to shift funds and focus to next year’s car.

According to some reports, this situation is also causing confusion for Leclerc himself. The Monegasque, now in his seventh season in red, still doesn’t have a car that allows him to fight for the long-desired title. “After seven years, either you give up or you take control of the situation,” said Giorgio Terruzzi while commenting on the number 16’s circumstances.

And that’s exactly what Charles Leclerc is trying to do. After a rather difficult start to the season, the Monegasque driver spoke of a “direction taken” that seems to be bearing some fruit, as Maranello’s Scuderia is now second in the Constructors’ Championship following the recently concluded triple-header.

Ferrari, don’t follow Charles Leclerc
Despite this, some believe Charles Leclerc’s guidance won’t lead to anything substantial in the long term. “At the moment, it seems Ferrari isn’t focusing on Lewis, and it will be interesting to see if that attitude changes in 2026 with the new regulations. Personally, I think they should follow Hamilton’s guidance more than Leclerc’s. Charles’s driving style gives you cars that can win a couple of races a year, but not world championships,” said Juan Pablo Montoya on the MontoyAS podcast.

Now it remains to be seen what Ferrari’s approach will be. Ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season, it was said that both drivers had very similar driving styles. However, the track has told a different story, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton often disagreeing in their assessments of the SF-25’s performance. For 2026, Ferrari will need a clear idea of the direction to take if it wants to put an end to a drought that more and more resembles a curse.