F1 insider claims Ferrari boss 'annoyed' with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

Ferrari boss 'annoyed' with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, claims F1 insider

It's not all rosy in red

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Saturday 19 September 2026 08:58

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Former F1 star Ralf Schumacher has claimed that he believes Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur was 'annoyed' with both of his drivers at the Spanish Grand Prix.

That irritation, the German claimed on Sky Germany, stems from Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc's first-lap incident at the previous Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, which saw the Brit forced off into the gravel by his team-mate at the second corner.

That forced Hamilton down to tenth place spoiling just his second Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver – although not as badly as Leclerc ruined his own less than two laps later, when he crashed at the Parabolica.

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The Brit, already unhappy after an incident at the previous race where he believed that the team should've told Leclerc to let him past to take advantage of their offsetting strategies, called for 'rules of engagement' to be brought in after the event.

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Schumacher: I got the feeling Vasseur was annoyed

Vasseur confirmed at the Spanish Grand Prix that he had spoken with both of his drivers and 'reminded them of some basic principles of how I run the team', with the two drivers also having their own private sit-down.

Schumacher, however, claimed to have felt some lingering irritation from Vasseur, saying: "I got the feeling during our interview yesterday that Fred Vasseur was annoyed and clearly addressed the mistakes."

Hamilton has hit the headlines again this week, taking to social media to deny reports that he has asked for a number of Ferrari personnel to be replaced.

Leclerc and Hamilton address Monza fallout

"We spoke with Lewis," Leclerc said in Madrid last week. "We've always had a great relationship. I have a lot of respect for Lewis. I told him, in Turn 2, I didn't behave the way I should have and the way a team-mate should.

"It happens when you are super motivated, Lewis is super motivated and I'm super motivated and we all try to do our best. Sometimes you go too far, which I did, and we will retune that in order for it to not happen again in the future."

Hamilton, for his part, added: "I think what's great is that there was no shying away from having a discussion. We sat face to face, just him and I, and talked about it and we were just both open and honest and we squashed it and we can move on.

"I think that shows the maturity from him and I think it's healthy. It's a relationship we have built over time. Of course, there's going to be frustrations and I'm sure there'll be more times where we're close because we're very close in pace. We both want to win just as much as each other and we both want to do well for the team as well."