Ferrari Urged to Support Hamilton in Title Race
Ferrari’s internal balance of power is under fresh scrutiny after Rob Smedley called on the team to decisively back Lewis Hamilton over Charles Leclerc if it truly wants to shape this year’s championship battle.
The flashpoint came at the Dutch Grand Prix. Hamilton, on an alternative strategy and clearly quicker at that stage, grew audibly frustrated on team radio as he sat behind his teammate and demanded Ferrari instruct Leclerc to move aside. The message was blunt. So was the fallout.
Smedley, the former Ferrari race engineer who knows the inner workings of Maranello as well as anyone, believes the solution is equally straightforward.
Speaking on the High Performance Racing Podcast, he stressed that individual interests have to give way to a single, ruthless objective.
“As hard as that is for Charles and the team that sits on that side of the garage with Charles and all the rest of it, they all work for Ferrari,” he said, underlining where he feels the priority must lie.
Then came the key line. In Smedley’s eyes, Hamilton has earned the right to be the team’s clear spearhead.
“Lewis has had the better run and done the better job. And I think if they're going to steal points from Mercedes, they're going to do that as a team.”
That is the crux of his argument: Ferrari may not possess the best car every weekend, but on the days when the machinery is good enough to win, there can be no ambiguity over who they back.
“They haven't got the best car consistently, but they have on occasions got the best car, and they're going to make it count then, and they're going to make sure that Lewis wins,” Smedley explained. “On all the other occasions, they're just going to make sure that they maximize Lewis' points.”
In other words, no shared leadership, no gentle diplomacy. When the opportunity appears, it has to be Hamilton’s race.
For Smedley, it’s not about emotion, it’s about arithmetic.
“This is just about doing what is the sensible thing for the team and trying to maximize Ferrari's position in the world championship,” he concluded.
The numbers give his stance weight. Hamilton sits level on points with former teammate George Russell in the drivers’ standings, both of them still chasing runaway leader Kimi Antonelli, who holds a 59-point cushion. If Ferrari want that gap to shrink, Smedley is adamant: their best chance is to rally, decisively, around the seven-time world champion.
Piquet’s heartfelt message to daughter Penelope draws Verstappen’s support
Away from the paddock politics and strategy calls, a different kind of emotion surfaced on social media.
Kelly Piquet, partner of Max Verstappen, shared a moving message dedicated to her daughter Penelope, reflecting on a turbulent period since the girl’s recent birthday. She chose not to reveal details of what had unfolded over the past month, but her words painted a picture of a mother reshaped by experience.
Piquet wrote at length about the lessons motherhood has forced her to confront: patience, resilience, and the fierce instinct to protect a child’s inner world. The post shifted from reflection to a direct address, turning into a promise.
“My P, I will always listen to you, stand up for you, protect your gentleness, and remind you that your feelings matter,” she wrote, a line that resonated widely among fans.
Her wish for Penelope’s next chapter was simple and striking: “I hope your seventh year brings you the peace, freedom, and carefree joy that every little girl deserves.”
The message drew support from Verstappen, who engaged with the post as the F1 community briefly looked away from lap times and title permutations to something more personal: a reminder that behind the helmets, trophies, and pressure, lives keep unfolding, quietly, in the background.
