Former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer has renewed his belief that Ferrari should begin prioritising Lewis Hamilton in the fight for the 2026 Drivers’ Championship, even if that means asking Charles Leclerc to sacrifice positions on certain occasions.
The debate surrounding team orders has intensified following Ferrari’s impressive performance at Silverstone, where Charles Leclerc returned to winning ways with a commanding victory, while Lewis Hamilton completed a strong weekend by finishing third. Although both Ferrari drivers remain firmly in the championship conversation, Palmer believes the mathematics increasingly favour building the team’s title challenge around Lewis Hamilton.
According to the former Renault driver and current F1 analyst, Ferrari now face one of the biggest strategic decisions of the season: whether to continue treating both drivers equally or begin maximising Lewis Hamilton’s championship hopes while there is still time to close the gap to Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton currently has the stronger title position
Charles Leclerc’s victory at the British Grand Prix marked an important turnaround after a difficult run of races and demonstrated that Ferrari have made genuine progress with the SF-26. However, despite the valuable points gained at Silverstone, the Monegasque still trails Lewis Hamilton by 39 points in the Drivers’ Championship.
The Briton, meanwhile, remains Ferrari’s highest-placed driver in the standings. The seven-time Formula 1 World Champion sits 32 points behind Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, meaning he is still mathematically well within striking distance if Ferrari continue to improve over the second half of the season.
With Mercedes still enjoying a slight performance advantage overall, every championship point could prove decisive, making Ferrari’s internal strategy increasingly important as the title battle develops.
Jolyon Palmer stands by his earlier recommendation
Jolyon Palmer first suggested after the Spanish Grand Prix that Ferrari should start favouring Lewis Hamilton whenever strategic decisions needed to be made. Even after Charles Leclerc’s dominant Silverstone victory, he believes the overall picture has not changed.
Rather than proposing a permanent number one driver policy, Palmer argued that Ferrari should simply adopt a more flexible approach whenever both cars are running close together and a strategic decision could benefit the championship.
In his view, such an approach would not diminish Charles Leclerc’s role within Ferrari, but instead maximise the team’s chances of taking the fight to Mercedes over the remainder of the season.
Why Palmer believes Ferrari should back Lewis Hamilton
Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Jolyon Palmer explained that although Charles Leclerc fully deserved his Silverstone victory, Ferrari also had to consider the wider championship picture.
He argued that Charles Leclerc had driven an outstanding race and had simply been the quicker Ferrari driver throughout the weekend. Nevertheless, Palmer believed Ferrari’s long-term objective should be reducing Lewis Hamilton’s deficit to Kimi Antonelli whenever realistic opportunities presented themselves.
During the British Grand Prix, Ferrari briefly occupied first and second place before the late Safety Car intervention changed the complexion of the race. Palmer admitted that while he never expected Ferrari to swap their drivers in those circumstances, he nevertheless found himself considering how much the championship standings could have changed had Lewis Hamilton been allowed to inherit the victory.
Based on his calculations, the seven-time world champion would have left Silverstone only 22 points behind Kimi Antonelli while also extending his advantage over George Russell. Such a scenario, Palmer suggested, would have transformed the championship battle considerably and established Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes’ biggest threat for the remainder of the campaign.
Managing two ambitious drivers will not be easy
Palmer acknowledged that implementing such a strategy would be far easier on paper than in reality.
Ferrari recently committed its future to Charles Leclerc by signing the Monegasque to a long-term contract, underlining the team’s belief that he remains one of the foundations of its long-term project.
At the same time, Charles Leclerc has every reason to believe he still has a chance of competing for the championship. Having just returned to the top step of the podium, the Ferrari driver is unlikely to feel that his title hopes have disappeared completely, despite sitting behind Lewis Hamilton in the standings.
Convincing a driver of Charles Leclerc’s calibre to voluntarily give up points would therefore represent an enormous management challenge for Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur.
According to Palmer, balancing the ambitions of two elite drivers while maintaining harmony inside the garage may ultimately prove even more difficult than making the strategic decision itself.
A bold decision could define Ferrari’s championship campaign
Palmer argued that if he were responsible for Ferrari’s sporting decisions, he would have the confidence to identify the Briton as the team’s primary championship contender at this stage of the season.
His reasoning was based purely on the championship standings rather than outright pace. Charles Leclerc, he suggested, would still have opportunities to fight for victories because situations where both Ferrari drivers run nose-to-tail at the front are relatively uncommon.
Meanwhile, helping Lewis Hamilton collect a few additional points whenever circumstances allowed could significantly improve Ferrari’s chances of challenging Mercedes over the closing stages of the championship.
From Palmer’s perspective, Charles Leclerc’s long-term future in Maranello would remain secure regardless of short-term sacrifices, with the expectation that opportunities to repay those lost points could arise later in future seasons.
Ferrari could soon face the same dilemma McLaren encountered
The situation bears similarities to the debate that surrounded McLaren during the closing stages of last season.
As Max Verstappen continued applying pressure in the championship, many observers called on McLaren to prioritise Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri in order to maximise the team’s title chances. However, eager to preserve the positive atmosphere inside the garage, McLaren delayed introducing formal team orders until the final round of the championship in Abu Dhabi.
Ferrari may now find themselves facing a remarkably similar situation.
With both the Monegasque and Lewis Hamilton capable of winning races, the Scuderia must decide whether equal treatment remains the best approach or whether the championship standings now justify a more targeted strategy.
Whatever decision Frédéric Vasseur ultimately makes, it could become one of the defining moments of the Italian side’s 2026 Formula 1 season. If the gap to Mercedes continues to shrink over the coming races, every point will become increasingly valuable, and the question of whether Ferrari should fully support Lewis Hamilton’s title bid is only likely to grow louder.
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