The dream move had turned into a waking nightmare. When Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, announced his seismic shift to Scuderia Ferrari for the 2025 season, the Formula 1 world braced for the dawn of a new dynasty.
It was a partnership forged in legacy, ambition, and the shared hunger for an elusive eighth world title that would etch Hamilton’s name into immortality. Yet, as the 2025 season unfolded, the dream has soured, replaced by a grim reality of underperformance, frustration, and now, explosive rumors of internal sabotage and a brewing civil war that threaten to consume the Maranello-based titan from within.
The whispers began as murmurs in the paddock and escalated into a deafening roar across social media. The central, shocking claim: an unauthorized, non-homologated aerodynamic component was discovered on Lewis Hamilton’s SF-25 chassis.
According to shadowy reports, this part was found after a private test session at Mugello, a discovery made not through official channels, but by a loyal engineer who bypassed the chain of command to report directly to Team Principal Frederic Vasseur.

The implication was as stunning as it was destructive: that someone, or some faction, within Ferrari was actively undermining their star driver. The discovery allegedly sent shockwaves through the factory, bypassing the technical director and igniting a fierce internal investigation personally overseen by Vasseur. The incident has reportedly created a chasm of distrust, splitting the team into warring camps. One faction remains loyal to Charles Leclerc, the Monegasque prodigy and long-time Ferrari protégé, while the other is aligned with the newly arrived Hamilton and the leadership of Vasseur.
This alleged act of sabotage serves as the flashpoint for a deeper, more significant power struggle that has been simmering behind Maranello’s stoic façade. The conflict is reportedly between Vasseur and Ferrari Chairman John Elkann. Vasseur, brought in to bring stability and a clear direction to a team famously prone to political infighting, has been working to consolidate his power and root out the old guard. However, his methods and the team’s lackluster performance have allegedly put him at odds with Elkann, who represents the corporate interests of Exor and the Agnelli family.
Sources suggest Elkann is growing impatient with the lack of results and the escalating internal turmoil. The Hamilton project, meant to be the crowning achievement of his tenure, is instead becoming a monumental crisis. The pressure from the Italian media, the famously passionate Tifosi, and the board is immense. This has led to speculation that Vasseur’s position is far from secure, with Elkann potentially looking for a scapegoat to quell the rising tide of discontent.
The crisis extends to the drivers, who are caught in the crossfire. Hamilton, accustomed to the clinical, unified efficiency of Mercedes, has been visibly struggling. His performance deficit to teammate Charles Leclerc has been stark, leading to public admissions of a disconnect with the car and a sense of unease. “There’s a lot going on in the background that’s not great,” Hamilton conceded in a recent, cryptic interview, a statement that now appears to be a veiled reference to the internal chaos.
For Charles Leclerc, the situation is equally fraught. Having signed a long-term contract extension, he was positioned as the future of Ferrari. Hamilton’s arrival complicated that picture, but the current turmoil creates an environment of intense psychological pressure. The rumors of a “pro-Leclerc” faction actively working against his teammate, whether true or not, cast a shadow over his integrity and place him in an untenable position.
The “unauthorized part” scandal, if proven true, is more than just a breach of protocol; it is an act of profound betrayal that strikes at the very heart of what a racing team should be. It suggests that the culture of fear and political maneuvering that has plagued Ferrari for decades is not only alive but has metastasized into something far more dangerous. The team’s inability to produce a car capable of consistently challenging the front-runners like McLaren is one problem; an internal fifth column is another entirely.
As Vasseur’s investigation continues, every employee at Maranello is reportedly under scrutiny. The atmosphere is described as toxic, with engineers and mechanics forced to choose sides in a conflict that has little to do with racing and everything to do with power. The civil war is not just about a single component on a car; it’s about the soul of Ferrari. Will it be a modern, unified team under a single leader like Vasseur, or will it remain a collection of fiefdoms governed by internal politics and beholden to corporate overlords?
Hamilton’s dream of a glorious final chapter in red is now in serious jeopardy. He came to Ferrari seeking to cement his legacy, but he may have walked into the most dysfunctional and self-destructive environment of his career. The battle for the 2025 championship is already lost. The more significant battle, for the future of Scuderia Ferrari itself, is just beginning, and its outcome will determine whether the most storied name in motorsport can ever truly reclaim its former glory or is destined to be consumed by its own internal demons.