Fred Vasseur is reportedly resisting calls to establish Lewis Hamilton as Ferrari’s number-one driver, despite a series of increasingly tense battles with Charles Leclerc and the seven-time world champion’s stronger position in the 2026 standings. The key reason is understood to be Vasseur’s determination to preserve equality between his drivers while regarding Leclerc as an essential part of Ferrari’s long-term future.
The issue has become considerably more difficult after incidents at Zandvoort and Monza brought Ferrari’s driver management into the spotlight. Hamilton and Leclerc have repeatedly found themselves fighting for the same positions this season, yet Vasseur has consistently avoided introducing a permanent hierarchy or using team orders simply to favour one side of the garage.
Why Fred Vasseur reportedly will not make Lewis Hamilton Ferrari’s No.1
According to Pit Lane Chronicle, Vasseur remains reluctant to grant Hamilton the number-one status the British driver would like as he attempts to keep his championship challenge alive. The Ferrari team principal is understood to see Leclerc as the Scuderia’s long-term future and therefore wants to continue treating the pair as equals rather than placing one permanently ahead of the other.
That stance contrasts with the view of figures such as Juan Pablo Montoya, who has recently urged Ferrari to make Lewis Hamilton its number-one driver on the basis of the championship situation after Monza.
For Vasseur, however, the decision involves more than the current points table. Charles Leclerc has been central to Ferrari’s Formula 1 project since joining the race team in 2019 after three years within the Ferrari Driver Academy. The Monegasque also signed a new contract in June that keeps him with the Scuderia until at least 2030.
Hamilton represents a very different proposition. At 41, the seven-time world champion has the opportunity to pursue a record eighth Drivers’ Championship with Formula 1’s most successful team and, in doing so, potentially end Ferrari’s drivers’ title drought stretching back to Kimi Räikkönen’s 2007 triumph.
Hamilton-Leclerc tension has been building since the start of 2026
The difficulty for Ferrari is that equal status has repeatedly placed Hamilton and Leclerc in direct competition on track. The warning signs appeared immediately at the opening round in Australia, where Hamilton chased his team-mate to the chequered flag in their fight for third place. Leclerc retained the position by just 0.625 seconds.
The situation resurfaced one race later in China. The two Ferrari drivers again fought each other, while Vasseur declined to intervene with team orders. Their battle allowed Mercedes driver George Russell to escape ahead before Hamilton eventually beat Leclerc to third place.
Those early incidents never led Ferrari to establish a different approach, and the same debate has continued through Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy. The broader question of whether Ferrari’s refusal to define clearer team orders is costing points has consequently become increasingly significant as the season has progressed.
Zandvoort brought Lewis Hamilton’s frustration into the open
At Spa, Ferrari again chose not to impose team orders on Charles Leclerc in a situation that could have assisted Hamilton during the Belgian Grand Prix. The same reluctance became more contentious at Zandvoort, where the seven-time champion was fighting for a podium and caught his team-mate before Leclerc was due to pit.
Hamilton was frustrated that Ferrari did not immediately ask the Monegasque to yield the position. Over the radio, he sarcastically criticised the decision as a waste of time, making his dissatisfaction with the way the team was managing the two cars clear.
The Dutch Grand Prix produced further tension when Ferrari initially attempted to keep Hamilton on a one-stop strategy. The Briton complained that the team was effectively using him as an experimental case before a late Virtual Safety Car gave him the opportunity to stop again.
Those episodes form part of a much wider Hamilton-Leclerc management problem Ferrari can no longer ignore, particularly when both drivers believe their own championship ambitions justify receiving priority.
Monza takes Ferrari’s driver battle onto home soil
The issue then followed Ferrari to its most important home race. On the opening lap at Monza, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton fought over third place, with the latter forced off the circuit as they exited the opening sequence of corners.
Hamilton had his nose ahead by the Turn 2 apex, but Leclerc refused to surrender the position and ran his team-mate wide. The incident became another prominent example of how Ferrari’s equal-status policy can leave its two drivers settling their differences directly on track.
It also came during a weekend when the relationship between the pair was already attracting attention. Hamilton has subsequently emphasised his approach to racing fairly, while the wider concerns over Ferrari’s management of Hamilton and Leclerc have competed with the SF-26’s own performance problems for attention.
Championship standings may reduce pressure for a Ferrari No.1
The urgency surrounding a formal hierarchy may now lessen simply because of the championship situation. After 13 rounds, Kimi Antonelli leads Hamilton, who sits third in the Drivers’ standings, by 76 points. Charles Leclerc is fifth and trails the Mercedes driver by 112 points.
Those margins make Ferrari’s prospects of turning either campaign into a title challenge increasingly difficult. As a result, Vasseur may feel less pressure to make the immediate decision Hamilton has been seeking.
That does not remove the wider strategic issue. If Ferrari finds itself firmly involved in a championship fight later in 2026 or during the following season, Vasseur could face the same dilemma under much greater pressure. The team would then need to determine whether equal treatment remained the best way to maximise its chances or whether circumstances demanded a clearly defined priority.
The debate is particularly sensitive because both sides have compelling reasons to expect support. Hamilton arrived at Maranello as a seven-time world champion pursuing an unprecedented eighth crown, while Leclerc represents the long-term investment around which Ferrari has built much of its recent Formula 1 future.
For now, Vasseur reportedly remains unwilling to choose permanently between them. But the repeated incidents from Australia to China, Spa, Zandvoort and Monza show why the relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc has become a major Ferrari issue. Equal status may still be the preferred policy, but keeping two drivers equal is becoming increasingly complicated when neither is willing to yield on the circuit.
