OTMAR SZAFNAUER TELLS FERRARI TO 'LEAVE CHARLES LECLERC ALONE' AMID LEWIS HAMILTON BATTLE

Former Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer has a blunt message for Ferrari management: don't overthink Charles Leclerc's early struggles alongside Lewis Hamilton. Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Szafnauer urged Maranello to skip any formal mid-season intervention and simply "leave him alone" with support from the pit wall.

The standings show the gap. Hamilton sits second in the drivers' championship with 169 points — including Ferrari's first win of his tenure at Barcelona — while Leclerc trails in fourth with 138 after costly DNFs in Monaco and Spain. But Szafnauer sees recent progress. "Lewis at the beginning of the year was a little bit more ahead of Leclerc than he is now," he said. "I think Charles has stepped it up in the last two."

Rob Smedley agreed, noting this is the first sustained intra-team deficit Leclerc has faced in years. With Ferrari 72 points behind Mercedes in the constructors' fight, both drivers need to find another gear.