Vasseur dismisses claims Ferrari split Spanish GP strategy to keep Leclerc and Hamilton apart

Ferrari principal Fred Vasseur has firmly rejected speculation that the team deliberately split the tyre strategies of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona to prevent the pair from racing each other.

Hamilton qualified fourth and started on soft tyres, while Leclerc lined up fifth on hards — a contrast that drew immediate scrutiny given the recent tensions between the two drivers. Vasseur, however, was quick to contextualise the decision by pointing to identical strategic splits across the grid.

“Have a look. Norris, Piastri did the same. Russell, Antonelli did the same. Verstappen, Lawson did the same,” Vasseur told reporters after the race. “I don’t think they [McLaren] were scared to have a crash between Norris and Piastri.”

The backdrop to the questions is hard to ignore. At Zandvoort, Hamilton called on Ferrari over team radio to issue team orders allowing him to pass Leclerc. A week later at Monza, the pair made contact on the opening lap, hampering Hamilton’s race and dropping him through the field. Vasseur has consistently maintained there is no crisis at the Scuderia, but the incidents have kept the intra-team dynamic under close scrutiny.

In Spain, the strategy debate was rendered largely academic by Hamilton’s afternoon unravelling early. A braking issue prevented him from exploiting the pace of his soft tyres, and he retired from the race after just a handful of laps.

Leclerc, running the alternative hard compound, held on in hope of a late safety car that would have allowed him a cheap pit stop and a charge through the field. It never materialised.

“We could have done many different things, but I think the best thing for us today was what we did,” Leclerc said. “If I had to do the race again I would do exactly the same thing. Starting on the soft at the beginning wouldn’t have given me the opportunity to do anything special. I would have ended up in the same strategy as the guys in front of me — and considering there were no overtakes, the hard-soft was the right call. Waiting for the safety car at the end was also the right thing to do. But, unfortunately, it never came.”