Fred Vasseur's got a proper headache on his hands. The Ferrari team principal is being hit with mounting pressure to establish clear team order rules between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc after a series of awkward moments that have rattled the Maranello outfit. Former IndyCar driver and F1 TV analyst James Hinchcliffe reckons Vasseur's facing a tremendous amount of pressure right now, and honestly, it's hard to argue with him.

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Things came to a head recently when the pair clashed on the opening lap at Monza, but the drama started brewing earlier at Zandvoort. Hamilton was fuming over team radio throughout that Dutch Grand Prix after finishing fourth, frustrated about the lack of clear instructions while Leclerc ended up fifth. It's now round 14 of them working together, and these fundamental questions about how Ferrari wants them to race each other still haven't been properly sorted.

Hinchcliffe made a solid point when discussing the issue on F1 TV's Weekend Warm-Up show. He highlighted that McLaren and Mercedes both have crystal clear rules of engagement in place, yet Ferrari seems to be playing catch-up. Whether this has always been missing from the Scuderia's playbook or just recently overlooked, it's clearly something that needs urgent attention from team management.

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Vasseur himself acknowledged that conversations need to happen with both drivers following the Italian Grand Prix incident, though he's downplayed suggestions of an internal crisis. The French team principal did push back on criticism though, explaining that while rules of engagement do exist, contracts can't possibly cover every scenario that might pop up on track because everything becomes a matter of interpretation. Fair point, but it's clearly not enough for the drivers right now.

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The pressure's only going to intensify as Ferrari heads to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix. With both drivers desperate for clarity on their boundaries and the team needing to get everyone rowing in the same direction, Vasseur's got a crucial conversation to have before things get worse.

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