EXCLUSIVE: F1 insider explains the risk of Hamilton causing a 'split' at Ferrari

Leclerc, Hamilton, social — Photo: © IMAGO

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EXCLUSIVE: F1 insider explains the risk of Hamilton causing a 'split' at Ferrari

The 2025 Ferrari line up could become another one of F1's great rivalries

Jim Kimberley

Tuesday 9 April 2024 19:00

Ferrari might soon rue their decision to sign Lewis Hamilton for 2025, thanks to the potential dynamic within the team.

The ill-tempered Nigel Mansell-Nelson Piquet combination caused endless friction within Williams during the two champions' time together.

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This conflict could be the fate of Hamilton and future teammate Charles Leclerc, warns one of those closest to the animosity.

An expert who handled one of F1's greatest rivalries explained how this 'no-win' situation might play out.

Ferrari face 2025 'challenge'

"It's going to be a challenge," admits Bradshaw. "But again, it's an exciting time for everyone involved.

Yes, it's a no-win situation. If you have two of the best drivers going up against each other, like [Alain] Prost or [Ayrton] Senna, or like at Williams with Mansell and Piquet, one's always going to be happy, and one's always going to be unhappy.

"It's a fact of life. It's down to how the team manages the atmosphere in the team and whether they try to keep things amicable so that both drivers feel that they are given absolutely the same equipment, the same opportunities, and everything like that.

"If you can do that, fantastic, but that's for Ferrari to work out.

"I don't want to be in their shoes when they have to work out if there is discord in the team."

Hamilton has 'nothing to prove'

Bradshaw admitted that she isn't jealous of the job Ferrari's media team has ahead of them with Leclerc and Hamilton racing for the Scuderia next year.

"I don't know Leclerc, but he seems a really sensible, level-headed guy, very quick, and as I say, Lewis has got nothing to prove. He's a seven-time world champion, but we'll see how it goes.

"I don't envy anybody in that position because it causes dissent in the team. You get a split garage, and the last thing you want in an F1 team is a split garage.

"I mean, I know they're all in it for themselves, and that's the way it is if you're an F1 driver; you're not in there to help somebody else win.

"But even so, if you can keep the garage on an even keel so that the competition is on the track and it doesn't spill over into the mechanics, the engineers, or just a difficult atmosphere.

"I think that's what you have to pray for. Let's hope Ferrari can do that. They've got an experienced team principal [Frederic Vasseur] there.

"Let's hope he can manage it because it comes back to the media perception that is allowed to be seen."

Behind the scenes 'fractures'

The change in how drivers can get their voice out to fans is the notable difference Bradshaw sees today compared to when she managed Williams' communications.

That's something she sees as problematic, depending on the message a driver puts out, either directly or via the foreign press.

"Now, with social media, a driver can go and speak to the world without any consultation with the team compared to what it was like with Nelson and Nigel.

"How much more fractured it can be behind the scenes that the public never sees, and how bad it was back in Nelson and Nigel's day.

"I think people remember neither of them saying, 'I love my racing brother, give him a hug.'

"There was no sugar-coating the pill there. But... we've got social media these days, so whatever they do, it's out there.

"In those days, Nelson could do an interview and be rude about people, and it would be in Brazil or Italy, and you might not see it.

"Nowadays, it's all there because everybody's on social media. Whatever anybody writes, if you write in a magazine in Australia, within five minutes, it's on social, and people are picking it up on Facebook or on Instagram.

"That's the problem. It's all laid out there for people to see."

Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Charles Leclerc Williams Alex Albon