Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton arrived in Las Vegas at the eye of a storm. Just days earlier, John Elkann had made a strong statement claiming that Ferrari’s disastrous result at the Brazilian Grand Prix was not the team’s fault, adding that “the drivers should talk less and work more.” The media reaction was far from positive, and Ferrari’s PR team worked overtime to manage the fallout.
Looking at Thursday’s statements, it seemed they were carefully orchestrated: Charles Leclerc defended the President, saying he “wanted to show his support,” and that the two “had spoken in advance.” Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, threw in a few more jabs, before concluding with vows of unconditional support for the team, even adding sentimental lines like “I’m living my dream with Ferrari.”
The reality after Las Vegas
But as the saying goes, people’s true feelings emerge in moments of difficulty. After a challenging qualifying for both drivers in the red garage, the masks came off. Hamilton was particularly candid, describing both Saturday and Sunday as “a nightmare,” calling it his “worst season,” and expressing how eager he was for it all to end. A storm after the calm, directly contradicting what had been said just hours before. Even Charles Leclerc, always kind toward Ferrari, let slip some frustration, stating that “even Sainz and Hamilton have faced these issues, and we haven’t solved anything.”
It was an indirect, yet still polite, way of breaking down Thursday’s carefully constructed narrative. There is no doubt that both drivers believe in the project and are dedicating themselves fully. So it cannot be easy to hear from the top that they are “not working hard enough” and then have it framed as a simple misunderstanding. Fred Vasseur’s warning in Canada still echoes: “In recent years, we’ve changed engineers, drivers, and team principals, but we haven’t won. Only one thing has remained the same…”
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