James Hinchcliffe names Ferrari's best hope of beating…

Former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer and IndyCar Series race winner James Hinchcliffe believe Ferrari must make the difficult decision to favour Lewis Hamilton over Charles Leclerc if it is to mount a serious challenge against Mercedes this season.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, the pair discussed the changes at the Maranello outfit following the British Grand Prix, where Leclerc claimed his first victory of the season and Hamilton finished third.

Despite the Monegasque driver's return to the top step of the podium, Hinchcliffe argued that Ferrari's best hope of toppling the dominant Mercedes package and championship leader Kimi Antonelli lies in throwing its full weight behind Hamilton.

"Charles did a remarkable job. Ferrari did a remarkable job. I don't think we were even expecting them to be quite as close there as they were, just like Spain," Hinchcliffe explained. "It's kind of been a bit backwards. But I think that ultimately Mercedes still has the upper hand.

"I think if they can stay on top of reliability issues and strategy issues and things like that, they've got two great drivers, they've got a great car, they've got a great power unit, they definitely head to Belgium as the favourites.

"Ferrari, as much as I hate this philosophy in theory, if they have any chance of this, I think they do have to back one. And right now, with the gap between Charles and Lewis, you'd have to back Lewis.

"Luckily, Charles is fast enough. You go back to last year, and it was Max versus both McLarens, right? They were taking points off each other, which helped his cause, but he didn't have a team-mate who could help run interference and take points off both of them as well.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari (Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images)

"In Ferrari's case right now, they've got two drivers who are performing at a very high level. And if they do decide to do what we know Ferrari has no issue doing and have done plenty of times in the past, that is their best shot. It's still a long shot, but it is their best shot."

Palmer, who had previously advocated for Ferrari to implement team orders, reiterated his stance.

"I agree. It was impressive that they were as competitive as they were at Silverstone. It bodes really well for them to be competitive across a bigger range of tracks, but still you look at Spa and you think Mercedes will have the upper hand," the former driver said.

"I thought it was great that Leclerc was fast. It was brilliant for him and his confidence that he won the race. It was fascinating for me to see that, when Ferrari won this time, especially at the start of the race, it was two Ferraris at the front versus one Mercedes.

"When you look at Barcelona, it was two Mercedes and one Ferrari, and Leclerc wasn't there for the race. He obviously crashed in qualifying but didn't quite have the pace or the consistency at that moment. So having him in the fight is obviously brilliant."