Lewis Hamilton has publicly denied asking Ferrari to replace members of his team, after a report in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera claimed he had pushed for changes to the team’s trackside personnel and that his relationship with team principal Fred Vasseur had weakened. Hamilton answered on Instagram on Thursday. “I’ve never asked for anyone on my team to be replaced,” he wrote, adding that the people he works with put in the effort every day and that his aim is to lift those around him.

What the report claimed

Corriere della Sera did not name the staff Hamilton was said to want replaced. It linked the claim to his frustration with how recent races have been executed, and it landed in a week when that frustration has been hard to miss. At Monza he said Ferrari had “no rules” for how its drivers race each other. In Madrid his race ended with a brake failure that Ferrari is still investigating, and he conceded afterwards that his 2026 title bid is effectively over. He is third in the standings on 191 points, 101 behind Kimi Antonelli with nine races left.

The detail about Vasseur is the sensitive part. Vasseur was central to bringing Hamilton to Maranello, and any suggestion of a rift between them goes to the foundations of the project. Hamilton’s statement did not address the relationship directly. His denial of the staffing claim was unambiguous.

Vasseur shuts down a second rumour

Ferrari’s team principal spent part of the same day denying a separate story: that the team had split its drivers’ strategies at the Spanish Grand Prix to keep Hamilton and Charles Leclerc apart on track. The pair’s relationship has been under scrutiny since Zandvoort, where Hamilton asked over the radio for team orders to be used in his favour, and since the first-corner contact at Monza that we examined in Ferrari’s Monza mess. Vasseur rejected the idea that strategy had been used to manage them. One well-placed paddock voice was blunter still about calls for Ferrari’s management to step in between its drivers, describing intervention as “not an option” for the team.

Why the rumours keep coming

Ferrari is second in the constructors’ championship, 145 points behind Mercedes, with a car that its own engineers say is missing pure power. Hamilton said this week that he does not expect the team’s latest engine upgrade to be a “silver bullet” that puts Ferrari level with Mercedes. When a team with Ferrari’s expectations is losing, the Italian press looks for reasons, and a seven-time champion who has been openly critical of how the team operates is an obvious place to look. Nico Rosberg, asked about the Madrid weekend, pointed to what he called Ferrari’s Achilles heel in race execution rather than to either driver.

None of that makes the staffing story true. Hamilton’s criticism this season has been aimed at structures, such as the absence of agreed rules between the drivers, and he made the point himself in his statement that he tries to build people up. A driver asking for clearer processes is a long way from a driver asking for sackings.

What happens next

Ferrari announced a major new sponsor this week and has said it will not yet switch its development focus to 2027. Leclerc takes a grid penalty for a new engine in Baku, which leaves Hamilton as the team’s lead car at a circuit where straight-line speed decides most of the lap. The rumours will fade if the results improve. Our profile of Hamilton’s Ferrari years sets out why the next regulation cycle, more than the next race, will define how this partnership is remembered.

Frequently asked questions

Did Hamilton ask Ferrari to replace staff?

He says no. After an Italian newspaper report, he stated on Instagram that he has never asked for anyone on his team to be replaced.

What did the report say?

Corriere della Sera claimed he had pushed for changes to trackside personnel and that his relationship with Fred Vasseur had weakened. It named no individuals.

Did Ferrari split strategies in Spain to separate its drivers?

Fred Vasseur has denied it.

Where is Hamilton in the championship?

Third on 191 points after 14 rounds, 101 behind Kimi Antonelli.