Chasing the championship dream, Jolyon Palmer has questioned whether Fred Vasseur could manage a wheel-to-wheel intra-team fight between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.<\/p>\n
After all, the Ferrari<\/a> teammates have already \u201ckissed\u201d twice this season, as Hamilton put it.<\/p>\n Hamilton-Leclerc Ferrari warning issued<\/p>\n Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n Racing the second-best car behind Mercedes in the opening rounds of the season, Hamilton and Leclerc have traded blows on the track, and even paint on two occasions.<\/p>\n The two shared a \u201ckiss\u201d at the Chinese Grand Prix, with Hamilton stating: \u201cI think there was one moment we did touch, but it was subtle, just a kiss. So it\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton won that battle, recording his first grand prix podium since joining Ferrari last season.<\/p>\n The two touched again in Japan as Leclerc attacked his teammate for third, only for Hamilton to attempt to come back at him.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were very close,\u201d said Leclerc, who won that fight. \u201cThen he attacked me again and we touched. I was scared I might have gotten a puncture.\u201d<\/p>\n So far, so good for Ferrari team principal Vasseur, who is enjoying the battle between his drivers.<\/p>\n \u201cHuge respect for both of them,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are professional, and I think it makes sense in this situation to let them race.<\/p>\n \u201cI know perfectly that that can also look completely stupid half an hour later.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the end of the day, I think it\u2019s also the best way to build up a team.\u201d<\/p>\n But it begs the question, what happens when the stakes are more than just a podium result?<\/p>\n F1 2026 Ferrari scores: Charles Leclerc v Lewis Hamilton<\/p>\n F1 2026: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between teammates<\/a><\/p>\n F1 2026: Head-to-head race statistics between teammates<\/a><\/p>\n That was posed on the F1 Nation podcast as host Tom Clarkson was asked by former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer which intra-team battle he believed had the potential to turn nasty.<\/p>\n Clarkson replied: \u201cI think Leclerc\/Hamilton would kick off.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there is a ferocious competitiveness in Lewis that just leaves no stone unturned. I\u2019m not saying he\u2019s dirty in any way, but just that level of ferocious competitiveness would end up leading to trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n Palmer not only agreed with his compatriot, he\u2019s concerned the team principal Vasseur won\u2019t be able to handle the fall-out should it happen.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a bit of ego there as well, there\u2019s ego in everyone. You\u2019ve got to not be accepting second place, you\u2019ve got to be thinking, \u2018I\u2019m the best, this is my title\u2019,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cLeclerc and Hamilton, you\u2019ve got a guy that\u2019s won seven, you\u2019ve got a generational talent that hasn\u2019t yet won one. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a way that Fred could manage it, if they\u2019re even on pace and they have the best car like that.\u201d<\/p>\n The former driver brought up Hamilton\u2019s rivalry with his former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg as an example, saying that even though Mercedes threatened to sideline the drivers, it is not a consequence that a team can actually follow through on.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had examples of Nico Rosberg saying that they had to foot the bill after Barcelona [in 2016] or some incidents,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cToto said \u2018maybe we should have benched them for a race\u2019 and that was the last threat. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s never going to get to after Barcelona and say, \u2018right, we\u2019re going to put in two reserve drivers\u2019. You can\u2019t put one reserve driver in. How unfair is that? <\/p>\n \u201cSo these things are pie in the sky. They\u2019re not doable when you\u2019re actually in position.<\/p>\n \u201cOn top of that, you\u2019ve got all sorts of contracts in place. Ultimately, if the characters are there, it\u2019s unavoidable for a team principal.\u201d<\/p>\n Leclerc and Hamilton are third and fifth in the Drivers\u2019 standings<\/a> after four rounds, with Leclerc trailing championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 41 points while Hamilton a further eight off the pace.<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n