From nowhere, a feud at Ferrari has seemingly developed - chairman John Elkann in one corner, and his star drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, in the other.
It would appear that following the São Paulo Grand Prix at the weekend, Elkann's patience over his team's lack of results finally snapped, with the double DNF at Interlagos on Sunday being the final straw.
Elkann extolled the virtues of Ferrari's mechanics and engineers this season in comments he aired, before turning on "the rest", saying it was "not up to scratch", and firing specific criticism towards Hamilton and Leclerc, telling them "to focus on driving and talk less".
Hamilton and Leclerc wasted little time in responding. The seven-time F1 champion, taking to social media, called for a united front. “I back my team. I back myself. I will not give up. Not now, not then, not ever!" he said.
Leclerc, the unwitting victim of an initial clash involving McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli in his Mercedes, declared that unity was critical in Ferrari's current situation after falling to fourth in the constructors' championship.
"It’s uphill from now, and it’s clear that only unity can help us turn that situation around in the last three races," he said via his own social post. "We’ll give it [our] all, as always."
The comments even led to the 2009 F1 champion, Jenson Button, wading in. Via Instagram, Button said: "Maybe John should lead by example."
So who is right? Should Elkann, despite the misery he witnessed in São Paulo, speak out? It is his team after all.
Or are Hamilton and Leclerc correct, in conjunction with Button, in throwing their full weight behind the team as a whole, and calling for unity?
Have your say in the latest RacingNews365 poll below, and leave a comment in the relevant section. We will highlight the best when we publish the results later this week.
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