Arrivabene: “Betting on Hamilton or Leclerc? The choice will be later, now the only thing that matters is staying ahead of Mercedes”

The former team principal cuts to the chase. The overall score of seven to two in favor of Mercedes is still too unbalanced to ‘play the bass drum’, but Ferrari still achieved its two successes in the last three races. Without the technical problem that occurred to Andrea Kimi Antonelli in all likelihood the calculation would have been 8 to 1 and the Italian would have further extended his lead at the top of the World Championship, but reliability has always been a very important component in F1 and at the beginning of 2026 it has once again become a factor, especially with regards to the Mercedes-powered ones. In the Drivers’ standings Antonelli has a 25-point lead over George Russell and a 32-point margin over Lewis Hamilton with Charles Leclerc fourth at -71. According to Maurizio Arrivabene, this is not the time in Ferrari to worry about any favoritism or hierarchies, there is a primary objective on which we must concentrate all our forces: “Managing Leclerc and Hamilton? In my opinion it is not as difficult as it seems – said Arrivabene guest of Race Anatomy on Sky – there are circuits where one goes faster and where the other goes faster. At the right moment a choice will be made. But now the only choice to make is to stay ahead of Mercedes”.

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-07-07 05:00:00