Ralf Schumacher reveals Vasseur was 'annoyed' with both Hamilton and Leclerc at Madrid

Speaking on Sky Sports Germany in Madrid, the former F1 driver said his interview with Vasseur during the weekend left him in little doubt about the Ferrari boss's mood. The conversation came against the backdrop of Ferrari's difficult Italian Grand Prix, where Hamilton and Leclerc battled hard from the start and Leclerc retired after crashing on lap two.

"I got the feeling during our interview yesterday that Fred Vasseur was annoyed and clearly addressed the mistakes," Schumacher said. He interpreted Vasseur's attitude as frustration with the lack of teamwork, arguing that Ferrari could not afford its drivers to place their individual battle ahead of the team's wider objectives while attempting to close the gap to a rival.

Schumacher's interpretation places the responsibility on Hamilton and Leclerc rather than on Ferrari's operations.

That stands in direct contrast to the position Hamilton himself has taken. As GPblog has reported, Hamilton has requested that Ferrari replace a number of key on-track personnel, with Corriere della Sera claiming his relationship with Vasseur is no longer described as being quite the same as before.

The question of who is truly at fault has no shortage of answers.

Nico Rosberg offered a different assessment of the same Madrid weekend, saying Ferrari too often fail to put a complete weekend together and insisting that strategy has 'always been a weakness', as GPblog covered separately after another 'messy' weekend.

Vasseur himself appeared to try to draw a line under the tensions during the weekend. "I've had good discussions with Lewis and Charles; they've sorted things out between themselves, and I've reminded them of some basic principles of how I run the team," the Frenchman said.

With Hamilton now 101 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli after his brake failure retirement at the Madring, the urgency around team orders has faded considerably.

But the broader question of what is going wrong at Ferrari, and who bears the responsibility, shows no sign of being settled before the season is out.