Ferrari have an incredibly strong driver line-up on paper but their chemistry on track has proven problematic.

No Formula 1 team pays more than Ferrari’s £86.5m wage bill for drivers after splashing out on Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

But Ferrari refuse to outline a ‘number one’ driver in their team, which has led to tension behind the scenes between the two pilots. It was visible (again) at the Singapore Grand Prix.

We’ve picked the best and the worst drivers from the Singapore Grand Prix, but what would you change?

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc tension is holding back Ferrari

In Singapore, Ferrari split their strategies between both drivers to try and team up on pole-sitter Max Verstappen.

However, while Leclerc finished on the podium, Hamilton made a strategy blunder by refusing to come in to the pit lane during a Virtual Safety Car deployment.

But Ferrari’s issues started well before that when they split the strategy but refused to make the team call to let Hamilton pass Leclerc on quicker tyres when he pitted earlier in the race.

Speaking on the Up To Speed podcast, David Coulthard made it clear that having two “fast drivers” is actually backfiring for Ferrari.

“It feels like they should’ve let Lewis through. They have two mature, brilliantly fast racing drivers, and they would understand if the call came – ‘Charles, don’t hold up Lewis’. Lewis then overtakes, uses his tyre advantage to pull whatever gap he can, and then later in the Grand Prix you can sort it out and change the running order if necessary,” Coulthard said.

“Let’s assume they did that, would Lewis have taken the Virtual Safety Car? The consequence if they did it may have completely opened up the Grand Prix for Lewis. Actually, in the end, it opened it up for Charles.

“It just feels that the downside of having two fast drivers is that you’re sometimes working against the greater good.”

Ferrari need to establish authority from the pit wall

In Sepang, Hamilton made a brave strategy call to stay out in damp conditions and it turned out to be the right decision as he clawed his way back to the podium.

But just a week later, Hamilton again took control from the cockpit and got it wrong.

Of course, Ferrari need to listen to their driver feedback during races, but there has been a lack of authority from the pit wall. It has become clear that Hamilton has lost trust in Ferrari’s decision-makers.

If Ferrari are going to maximise the potential of their driver line-up and get the best out of Hamilton and Leclerc, they need to overhaul the way they handle strategy calls.