That Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc would be bombarded with questions about Ferrari chairman John Elkann's recent statement that "it is important that they focus on driving and talk less" when they faced the media in Las Vegas on Wednesday night was inevitable.
What was less certain was how they would respond to such pointed criticism. Edd Straw, who was in the room and asked both drivers about the matter, was more impressed by the drivers than the senior figure they were effectively having to defend.
Edd Straw: Drivers handled this better than Elkann
It's to their credit that Hamilton and Leclerc handled the situation with vastly greater grace and elegance than Elkann's original comment.
First up was Hamilton, who batted away a couple of questions deftly and insisted that he had no reaction to the comments.
The Race's question directly referenced the comment about turning down the yapping and upping the pace, and elicited a joke that he's always happy to do less media, then a more lengthy tract about everyone needing to take responsibility.
So it continued, well handled by a well-prepared Hamilton. He was always likely to take the conciliatory approach, as his struggles over the season meant he isn't standing on rock-solid ground. But he did remind everyone that "you can't fix it in the click of a finger, it takes real time".
Leclerc was always the more interesting case. He's spent much of his F1 career performing miracles for Ferrari and has been arguably the best thing about the team in 2025. When asked about what more he could do given his performances, he offered gratitude for the praise in the question and added that "I rate my season actually high". There's his solid ground.
However, he was also happy to play the company man, happy to say that "the messages he [Elkann] wanted to send was a positive one". Asked by The Race how he could take such a clearly negative comment targeted very specifically at the drivers as a positive, Leclerc talked up Elkann's honesty and frankness.
Deftly evaded, but not really answering the question simply because the only answer to the question would be a critical one. Similarly, Leclerc's slightly inconsistent timeline about whether his conversation with Elkann happened before or after the comments got out suggested he was very much toeing the line.
Realistically, the Ferrari drivers were always going to play it this way and they sold what was clearly nonsense as well as they could have done. But the fact that both did everything they could to reframe comments that had neither been topspun or unfairly framed meant they stuck firmly to their message - even if that message transparently did not reflect what had been said. And it's probably more than Elkann deserved, with only his seniority protecting him from legitimate pushback.
Yes, Ferrari is underachieving and there's nothing wrong with pointing it out, but it was as poorly done by Elkann as it was well played by the drivers in response.
Jenson Button doubtless spoke for what both Leclerc and Hamilton really feel when he replied to a Sky Sports F1 Instagram post about the original comments with a straightforward "maybe John should lead by example".
What Hamilton said
Hamilton and Leclerc posted comments on social media on the day of Elkann’s remarks, which few felt was a coincidence. But Hamilton distanced this from being a “reaction” though as he claimed he did not hear about what Elkann had said until after he had got home and his own post was “from the weekend”.
He went on to joke “I’m always willing to do less media” when asked by The Race about Elkann’s suggestion that Hamilton and Leclerc focus on driving and “talk less”.
“But no, seriously, I think we all need to take responsibility in this team and we all need to play our part,” Hamilton said.
“There's so much passion in this team, every single member of this team. I’m incredibly grateful for the extraordinary effort every single person back at the factory continues to put in week on week.
“Knowing that the team is Ferrari, there's always a huge amount of attention and not always in the positive way. But we're all fully committed to turning this around and I'm fully committed to helping this team rebuild and grow.
“Every challenge is an opportunity for us to grow and learn and I firmly believe that we will get to where we want to be.”
This was in keeping with Hamilton’s general narrative around Ferrari off-track this season. Anything approaching criticism of the team has tended to be isolated to specific incidents, and/or said in the moment during races, while his most eye-catching remarks have tended to be when talking about his own performances.
And in this media session Hamilton made sure his emphasis was on the better future he thinks Ferrari can have - while continuing to stress he believes that changes are needed to achieve that.
“I joined this team knowing full well that it takes time to steer a ship in a different direction,” he said.
“This is a huge organisation. There are so many moving parts and you can't fix it in a click of a finger. It takes real time.
“Of course [it's] not been what any of us have wanted in terms of a season with the troubles that we've had and the results that we've had. But we just continue to push on full steam.”
But back to Elkann’s remarks, and the implication the drivers could be more focused. Is this possible?
“Not really,” Hamilton said. “I wake up thinking about it and I go to sleep thinking about it and I think about it while I'm sleeping.
“So [if there's] anything I have to focus on, being able to unplug more. It's been a really heavy year. It's been the busiest year I've probably had.
“I've been at the factory more than I think I was ever at any other factory before, because it's just been so much to do and so much to learn. And it's definitely a tough one.
“We're all working towards something and then you fall back. It's like we're climbing up a mountain and then you arrive at the weekend and you slip a few steps back or 10 steps back and you have to then get back up and try again the next time.
“I back this team 100% and I back myself 100%. I know that when we get things right it's going to be amazing and I can't wait for that moment because it'll be nice to see what you're going to write after that and I truly believe that's going to happen.
“I'm just not losing sight of that even with all the difficult days we've had.”
What Leclerc said
Leclerc has, he pointed out, known Elkann for “many, many years” and has what he considers a close and “very good relationship”.
Given that relationship and Leclerc’s status within Ferrari, he was never likely to rock the boat by responding harshly to Elkann’s comments. But Leclerc’s approach was to, essentially, not address the actual comments at all.
Instead Leclerc focused on his own conversation with Elkann and the intent the president had - with the premise being that Elkann had told Leclerc, and others, he intended to share a positive message to spur the team on.
Asked by The Race’s Edd Straw how it can be taken as a positive when the drivers are told to focus on driving and talk less, a remark that seemed fairly targeted at him and Hamilton, Leclerc said: “Because John has always been very honest with me, and I think that is very rare.
“I've seen that throughout my career. When you're in Formula 2, Formula 3, it's very easy to meet people that are honest with you. When you get to Formula 1, and your status changes a little bit, it's a lot more difficult to actually find people that are honest with you.
“John has always been extremely honest with me. And when he thinks I've done something wrong, or that anybody has done something wrong in team, he will say it.
“When he called me, he told me what were the intentions of his words. And that was very clear. It was a positive message, trying to be positive.
“Then whichever way it's been expressed, I cannot really comment, and it's not my job to comment, but the intent was positive, and that's what really matters to me.
“So that's why I'm fine with that. And then whatever there's around the team I cannot control, so I don't spend too much energy on that.”
That timeline seemed a little questionable by Leclerc’s final answer, when he said “for the whole team, it didn't come across as negative, because again there was the explanation straight away”.
So did the explanation come before, or after, Elkann spoke publicly? And what kind of explanation was there – one where he just outlined his ‘intent’, then said something that has been widely interpreted very differently, or one where he justified or explained those remarks?
Does Leclerc really not know what Elkann said publicly? If he does not, how can he say with such certainty that Elkann’s message “was definitely not specific to that race [in Brazil], but it was more a broader view of the situation and the season”?
These are the kinds of questions that stances like Leclerc’s cause, even if that stance is entirely understandable.
He said there are “no hard feelings whatsoever”, but if it seems like this doesn’t really matter, it’s worth noting that Leclerc referred to there being “a lot of fuss” around Ferrari at the moment - which is ultimately a situation that has been created by the man at the very top.
“For the whole team, it didn't come across as negative, because again there was the explanation straight away,” Leclerc insisted.
“So there's not been any bad repercussions on that.
“I wouldn't say words by words, what's been said – I've been speaking with John, and I know where he wanted to get at, and that's enough for me.”
