'Ferrari issued clear Lewis Hamilton message despite Charles Leclerc's British GP win'

Following Antonelli's late issue at the British Grand Prix, Leclerc, who had took the lead at the start, was able to cross the line first in a safety car finish, with Hamilton taking third after a late pitstop brought him out behind George Russell.

Hamilton is now 32 points behind Antonelli in the standings. Leclerc is a further 39 points behind his teammate, but would likely be reluctant to play second fiddle to Hamilton given his own aspirations of winning the drivers' championship one day.

Former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer told Formula1.com that Leclerc is not a championship contender but could prove to be a great asset for Hamilton in the title fight. Former race engineer to Felipe Massa at Ferrari, Rob Smedley, also has stated his belief that Ferrari should back Hamilton.

It was put to GPblog readers whether or not Ferrari should immediately prioritise Hamilton in the championship despite Leclerc's impressive victory at Silverstone. It is safe to say there has been quite the reaction.

At the time of writing, 62.62% of readers argue that Hamilton should be backed in the aftermath of the British Grand Prix. If Ferrari bosses had the same opinion, this would mean that Leclerc would have to play team orders for the rest of the campaign, something he might not be too happy about, after his recent lengthy contract renewal.

Only 37.28% of readers felt that team orders should not be implemented following the British Grand Prix. One strong argument for that at this stage of the season is that with one bad result or piece of misfortune for Hamilton at the next race in Belgium, Leclerc could easily be within 25 points of his teammate after the race at Spa-Francorchamps.

GPblog reader katiep said that Palmer writing off Leclerc already was "wild", adding: "He just won, confidence back, new setup clicking. Let them both race and see what Spa says. Team orders in July? Nah, Ferrari always trips when they overthink. Let Lewis hunt, but don’t nurture Leclerc now."

One major plus for Leclerc is that a similar vote was put forward to GPblog readers after Hamilton's victory at the Barcelona Grand Prix. At that time, 70.27% of fans felt Hamilton should be backed over Leclerc in the title fight, so the results are swinging more in Leclerc's way, even if the majority of fans still feel Ferrari should implement team orders.