Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc overwhelmingly backed after shock Ferrari criticism

F1 fans have vehemently thrown their support behind Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc after Ferrari chairman John Elkann took aim at the pair following the São Paulo Grand Prix.

The 49-year-old suggested they should "talk less" and called on the duo to "focus on driving" with the Scuderia struggling to retain its runner-up spot in the F1 constructors' championship battle.

That followed Hamilton claiming he had been living in a "nightmare" and Leclerc calling the situation "very frustrating" whilst highlighting the team's need to have three "perfectly executed" weekends to end the year.

In response to Elkann, both Hamilton and Leclerc took to social media, sharing defiant posts in a pointed reply.

The British driver wrote: "I back my team. I back myself. I will not give up. Not now, not then, not ever," whilst his team-mate addressed the Ferrari chairman's implication that there was a lack of unity within the F1 team directly.

"It’s uphill from now, and it’s clear that only unity can help us turn that situation around in the last 3 races," the eight-time grand prix winner said. "We’ll give it all, as always."

Ferrari has slumped to fourth in the constructors' fight with only the final triple header of the campaign to contest, sitting 36 points adrift of Mercedes in second and four points behind Red Bull in third.

When asked who is in the right between the Ferrari drivers and Elkann, the vast majority of respondents sided with the former, with the latter procuring little over 15 per cent of the vote.

Check out the full results below from the latest poll from RacingNews365!