Damon Hill urges Ferrari to back Hamilton over Leclerc

Damon Hill has called on Ferrari to prioritise Lewis Hamilton over Charles Leclerc to pursue both championships with a competitive car, PlanetF1 reports. The 1996 Formula 1 world champion made his argument after Brazil.

Hill pointed to Ferrari's investment in bringing Hamilton to the team as a reason to support him. He acknowledged that Leclerc might regard preferential treatment as unfair given his longer service.

“If they have a competitive car next year, they could win the Drivers' Championship and the Constructors' Championship, and I can't see how they're going to win it if they have two drivers currently behaving the way they do, if Charles is constantly racing against Lewis like that,” Hill said.

“For me, it seems like there’s factions within the team that are shooting for one side or the other,” Hill said. “You can’t have that if you’re going to be an effective competitor against the Red Bulls, McLaren and Mercedes.”

“He's been crushed since Abu Dhabi, in effect, you know, in 2021. He's been fighting his way back. He's performed incredibly well this year, much better than I thought, considering I thought it was going to be very difficult, but he's rebuilt himself,” Hill said.

Hamilton has taken his first Ferrari grand prix victory, a pole position and multiple podiums in 2026. Crash.net reports that he is currently ahead of Leclerc in the drivers' championship.

PlanetF1 reports that Hamilton forced Leclerc off at Turn 1 in Mexico before both drivers went off at Turn 4 while fighting for the lead. Leclerc emerged ahead but received a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage off the track.

“Ultimately, that lost us the win today. We have to have some serious talks behind closed doors,” Hamilton said after the Mexican Grand Prix. During the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend, he accused Leclerc of racing teammates harder than other drivers, but later said relations were good.

Hamilton lost the 2021 championship to Max Verstappen in controversial circumstances at the Abu Dhabi season finale. The seven-time champion subsequently spent years unable to contest the title amid Mercedes' performance decline before moving to Ferrari in 2025.