Ted Kravitz has heard there was a ‘ruction’ between Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s president

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Lewis Hamilton ‘acknowledged’ that there was tension between himself and John Elkann at Ferrari last year, Ted Kravitz says.

Speaking in the pre-race press conference, Hamilton partly attributed his turnaround this year to ‘realigning myself with the higher powers within the organisation, so that we’re making sure that we’re on the same track and we’re allies rather than foes’.

He added that some Ferrari colleagues were reluctant to listen to him last year due to poor results, but he has now built ‘trust’ with the team.

Were Lewis Hamilton and John Elkann ‘rowing in the same direction’ at Ferrari

Elkann famously told the drivers to ‘talk less’ and focus on their job in an interview last November.

Kravitz believes Hamilton was referring to the Ferrari president in his remarks on Thursday.

“We had the first real acknowledgement that there had been a bit of a ruction in his relationship with John Elkann, the Ferrari president,” he said on Ted’s Notebook.

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“He didn’t mention John Elkann, but this is what we believe he meant.

“Was Hamilton saying there that they were maybe not all rowing in the same direction last year, when of course John Elkann did his famous, ‘I think the drivers should focus on driving and not talking’, which was widely regarded as a bit of a rebuke?”

Hamilton didn’t score a single podium at Ferrari last year, with Charles Leclerc collecting all seven of the team’s trophies. At the same time, he spoke of auditing the team comprehensively.

His goal was to establish why they hadn’t won a championship for the best part of 20 years, a process that may have uncovered some uncomfortable truths.

It’s believed that team principal Fred Vasseur advocated for Hamilton’s desired changes to be implemented in the face of internal resistance.

Ahead of Sunday’s British Grand Prix, the seven-time world champion needs just 24 points to match his total for the whole of last season. He won his first race for Ferrari in Barcelona, ending the team’s 34-race drought.

His Sprint podium on Saturday was his sixth across the two formats this year.

“Well done Lewis, on your first great victory with Ferrari: an emotional moment and a very important result, which belongs to the entire team and to all our fans,” Elkann said in a statement after Hamilton’s win.