Ferrari Tension and Hamilton's Future: Could McLaren Squeeze Piastri?
The crash in Mexico was the spark. The fallout has been simmering ever since.
Ferrari’s much-hyped superteam has drifted into something far more fragile, with insiders increasingly convinced the Scuderia has not done enough to cool the tension between its star drivers after their opening-lap collision in Mexico last month. The concern is no longer just about lost points. It’s about whether the partnership can realistically carry a title bid without tearing itself apart.
Hamilton's Dilemma
Into that uncertainty steps Lewis Hamilton and a familiar what-if.
Speaking on the Cameron Cc podcast, respected F1 analyst Peter Windsor painted a scenario that would have seemed unthinkable when Hamilton signed for Ferrari: the seven-time world champion becoming so disillusioned with internal politics and team management that he walks away from Maranello – not into retirement, but potentially back to where it all began.
Windsor laid out the hypothetical in typically vivid fashion, imagining Hamilton reaching breaking point over team control and his relationship with Charles Leclerc, despite his affection for the Ferrari brand and life in Italy. In that moment, Windsor suggested, one man would not hesitate.
Zak Brown.
According to Windsor, the McLaren chief would be “immediately on the phone”, dangling a two-year deal and a simple pitch: a more straightforward environment, a front-running car, and a team reshaped from the old Ron Dennis era into a more open, driver-focused operation. A modern McLaren, still powered by Mercedes, built to fight for world championships again.
The lure would be powerful. A return to the team where Hamilton exploded onto the scene. A chance to close his career in the colours where it all started, with a car capable of winning and a structure that, at least from the outside, looks more harmonious than Ferrari’s.
Windsor does not see Mercedes as a realistic destination. That door, in his view, has closed. McLaren, though, remains a live possibility if Hamilton ever decides Ferrari is no longer worth the internal strain.
Impact on Piastri
And that is where the story takes an uncomfortable turn for Australian fans.
Because if McLaren suddenly had the chance to put Hamilton alongside Lando Norris, someone would have to make way. On current evidence, Oscar Piastri would be the most vulnerable of the three.
Norris, who claimed the 2025 world championship, has not hit the same heights this season but still owns three race wins. That matters. Results buy leverage, and Norris has delivered them. Piastri, by contrast, is still chasing his first grand prix victory and has only two podiums to show for his campaign.
McLaren’s driver line-up is already one of the most highly rated on the grid. Yet the cold reality of elite sport is that even a talent as clear as Piastri’s can find himself exposed if a megastar like Hamilton becomes available and the team believes it is one move away from a title.
The papaya project has been built carefully, step by step, around a young, hungry pairing. But if Ferrari’s internal storm pushes Hamilton back towards Woking, the ripple effect could land hardest on the driver still searching for that defining breakthrough win.
