Ferrari told to back Hamilton over Leclerc to have an 'impact on title battle'

At the Dutch Grand Prix, Hamilton was not satisfied with Ferrari's decision. The Briton caught up with his teammate Charles Leclerc while on an alternative strategy and asked several times to be let past so he would not lose time. After a couple of laps, Ferrari decided to pit the Monegasque driver.

In the end, Hamilton crossed the finish line in fourth place, right behind George Russell. He is currently tied on points with his ex-teammate, and 59 points behind Kimi Antonelli in the drivers' standings.

Speaking on the High Performance Racing Podcast, the former Ferrari employee had a clear verdict on the situation. He explained: "My opinion from the start has always been, if Ferrari want to have an impact on this world championship, they have to get behind him.

Smedley continued: "Lewis has had the better run and done the better job. And I think if they're going to steal points from Mercedes, they're going to do that as a team.

"This is just about doing what is the sensible thing for the team and trying to maximize Ferrari's position in the world championship," he concluded.

Up next on the Formula 1 calendar is the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Hamilton is excited to contest Ferrari's home weekend for the second time in red.

He told GPblog, among others: "Yeah, we're in a much different place than we have been in the past, obviously, than last year. We're still second in the Constructors' Championship. We've got a lot of positives to take from this first half. The next ones, we really need to turn up the heat if we're going to have any chance of getting these guys," he referred to Mercedes and McLaren.