Palmer says Ferrari left it too late to back Hamilton in the title fight

Ferrari has left it too late to hand Lewis Hamilton clear number-one status in the Formula 1 title fight, according to former grand prix driver and pundit Jolyon Palmer. Hamilton sits third in the drivers’ standings with 191 points — 76 adrift of championship leader Kimi Antonelli — while team-mate Charles Leclerc is fifth on 155 points with the season past its halfway point.

Palmer made his assessment on the F1 TV Weekend Warm-Up show ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, pointing to a pattern of intra-team friction that has cost Ferrari dearly. “The ship has sailed,” he said. “I feel like they’re drifting away from championship contention. They’re not going to make it. I don’t think they’re quick enough.”

The catalyst for the latest debate was Ferrari’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where Hamilton and Leclerc collided at Turn 1 on the opening lap before Leclerc crashed out on lap two — a result Palmer described as symptomatic of a season-long failure to coordinate. “I can’t think of a single time where they’ve actually worked together,” he said.

Palmer highlighted the contrast between the two drivers’ victories: Hamilton’s win in Barcelona came when Leclerc was not in contention, and Leclerc’s Silverstone triumph arrived after Hamilton had jumped the start and fallen out of the fight. The moments when both were genuinely competitive, Palmer argued, have consistently ended in conflict rather than cooperation.

“Starting third and fourth at Monza with one Mercedes at the back, both McLarens behind them, Max Verstappen behind as well, you’re thinking you’ve actually got a great chance to take the fight on your home turf,” Palmer said. “And they immediately started having a go with each other.”

Hamilton himself has reportedly called for greater teamwork, but Palmer believes the window for a structured championship push has already closed. Fred Vasseur’s team now faces the challenge of salvaging individual results rather than mounting a coordinated title challenge, with the gap to Antonelli growing at a critical stage of the season.