Lewis Hamilton team-mate tensions unearthed as Ferrari crisis deepens

Reports in the Italian F1 media claim that tensions are mounting at Ferrari after another poor weekend for both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Three different teams occupied the podium in Singapore, with George Russell securing his fifth career victory with Mercedes and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull outclassing Lando Norris in the McLaren.

However, Ferrari were once again absent from podium contention, a reality the team have had to become accustomed to since the summer break.

Alongside their clear lack of pace in Singapore, Ferrari were also blighted by brake issues with Hamilton and Leclerc warned to slow down to cool their overheating brakes throughout the race.

According to Italian publication Corriere dello Sport however, since the Singapore GP there have been increased tensions at Ferrari.

Ferrari in crisis?

The report claims that after qualifying on Saturday, a conversation between team principal Fred Vasseur and a senior engineer escalated into a ‘very tense discussion’.

Corriere further states that their sources from Maranello name this engineer as Matteo Togninalli, the head of track engineering at Ferrari.

Alongside alleged disputes between management at Ferrari, tensions have also reportedly arisen between Hamilton’s team-mate Leclerc and the technicians.

The report claims that the technicians are ‘angry with Leclerc for his uncompromising criticism of the car and how it is managed’.

Speaking to the media after the Singapore GP, Leclerc said: “I wish I could say that I'm positive for the rest of the season, I don't think there's anything in the car that proves to me that we are going to do a step forward.

"I think this is the reality of our situation at the moment. I don't quite know how to turn that situation around because we don't have new parts or anything coming to the car.

"We did steps forward [at the start of the season] but the others did as well so the gap stayed kind of the same and then Red Bull kind of found two steps in a season.

"First half and then in Monza more recently where they did a really big step forward, and now Mercedes seems to have done this step forward and we are the only one that didn't find that solution."

Hamilton also echoed Leclerc’s sentiments, albeit with a more forgiving nature to the team, and said: "I feel pain for all the team from catering to marketing, to the guys in the garage and engineers who show up every weekend.

“They really do give absolutely everything but the car we have is unfortunately not of the level of the guys ahead of us.

"Particularly as they've had some upgrades and we can't match them. We're on a knife-edge trying to get as close as we can."

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