Since Lewis Hamilton joined Ferrari, most of the attention has naturally been focused on him. The seven-time world champion is one of the most iconic figures in Formula 1, and his move to Maranello marked a big change for both him and the team. Ferrari has been working hard to help Hamilton settle in and adapt to the SF-25, but the process has been far from straightforward.

“Outside of that garage, I think most people completely underestimate what we actually do,” said Hamilton, quoted by Motorsport Week, ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

“When we’re talking about set-up and the changes that we’re making… all the different graphs that you’re looking at for aero through corner balance, mechanical balance, floor balance, all these different things that we’re trying to play with and finesse through the weekend.”

Despite his efforts, Hamilton could only manage seventh place at Suzuka. Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, finished fourth and felt he had made a step forward, but was still frustrated by the lack of performance.

“It’s disappointing because when you put everything together like we’ve done this weekend, I think the balance was in the right place. There’s just not enough performance in the car,” he said after the race.

READ MORE: Where did things go wrong for Ferrari in Japan?

What appeared on the surface as a team searching for answers became, according to Corriere dello Sport, something more fractured behind closed doors. The Italian publication reports that on the Saturday evening of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, Leclerc told team boss Frederic Vasseur and his engineers, “Enough, I’m going my own way.” It was, the paper writes, a moment that “broke the harmony” within the team and highlighted a growing divide between the two drivers’ approaches.

The newspaper goes further, suggesting that Ferrari has been “hanging on Lewis’ every word” since his arrival in Maranello. While that may be a natural instinct when you welcome one of the most successful drivers in history, it appears to have created an imbalance internally. Leclerc, still very much seen as the team’s long-term project, is no longer content to follow a shared path that he feels doesn’t suit him.

Bahrain now becomes the proving ground. Leclerc plans to run a very different setup this weekend, one tailored to his aggressive driving style and built on insights from pre-season testing at the same circuit. “I have a very clear direction now,” he reportedly told his engineers, with the aim of maximising the car’s potential in a way that works for him personally.

Vasseur also underlined the importance of the Bahrain round in his race notes, saying, “We get the opportunity to see how much progress we have made with the SF-25 since we were last here for the pre-season test at the very end of February.”

Hamilton, meanwhile, is not satisfied either. After the Suzuka race, he told Sky Sports, “I’m generally lacking performance compared to all the cars that are up ahead of me, particularly Mercedes, McLaren and obviously the Red Bull.” He added that the team had “found something on the car that’s been underperforming for the last three races” and said he was hopeful that fixing it would lead to better results.

The reality is that Ferrari now has two very different technical paths in play, each driver pursuing a setup concept that suits them individually. That’s not unusual in Formula 1, but it can be risky when it reflects deeper disagreements.