Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari made headlines for the wrong reasons at the Miami Grand Prix as the seven-time world champion’s infuriated radio messages attracted much attention.
Running an alternative strategy that put him on a different tyre compound to his team-mate Charles Leclerc, Hamilton became frustrated when he quickly closed on the Monegasque shortly after the race’s only round of pit stops and wasn’t immediately let through to chase down the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli for sixth.
The seven-time world champion sent a series of transmissions expressing his dismay as the pit wall hesitated, rejected and then finally granted his request, by which point Hamilton felt too much life had been taken out of his tyres.
His comments included the suggestion that the decision-making amounted to “not good teamwork”, while he also referenced a situation during the Chinese Grand Prix when he swiftly let a faster Leclerc through.
Hamilton became sarcastic during Ferrari’s deliberations, saying: “Have a tea break while you’re at it, come on!”
Then, after Ferrari had asked Hamilton to give back the position with Leclerc showing stronger pace in the latter stages, the Brit asked if the team wanted him to “let [Carlos] Sainz through as well” in a reference to the Williams that was following the red cars.
Hamilton played down the interaction after the race as he revealed he had told Ferrari team principal Fred Vassuer not to “be so sensitive” regarding the exchanges.
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New footage of a wholesome exchange between Hamilton and Charles Leclerc after the team orders dispute in Miami
“I could have said way worse things on the radio. You hear some of the things other people have said in the past. Some of it was sarcasm,” Hamilton said as he insisted he wouldn’t apologise for his comments.
“You’ve got to understand, we’re under a huge amount of pressure in the cars, you’re never going to get the most peaceful messages come through in the heat of the battle.”
What made Hamilton ‘sassy and sarcastic’?
Speaking on The F1 Show, Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz went through what he considers to be the three potential scenarios that could have caused Hamilton to express himself as he did over the radio.
Ted said: “I think there are three scenarios that make Lewis Hamilton more happy to be a bit more sarcastic and sassy on the radio.
“It’s the first time that Lewis was on the end, potentially the wrong end, of the famous Ferrari strategy, ‘we’ll get back to you’, that has amused us and infuriated the likes of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc before.
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Speaking on the F1 Show podcast, former Aston Martin strategy engineer Bernie Collins explains why Hamilton and Leclerc found Ferrari’s race strategy frustrating
“The first scenario is that he feels more secure and more happy in the team, and everything is going well, and he’s confident enough to say those things without feeling like there’s going to be any comeback on him.
“Scenario two is that maybe he’s not happy with what’s going on and wants to help reform the team. He wants to help Ravin Jain, the head of strategy, to be a bit sharper and interact with his engineer.
“And the third scenario, is that maybe Lewis doesn’t care anymore, isn’t happy, and is just happy to criticise them. I don’t think that’s the case but you could put it forward as a reason.”
Who were the ‘you guys’ Hamilton was unhappy with?
Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle noted Hamilton’s use of the phrase “you guys” as he was expressing his frustration over the radio, which Ted says he thinks was directed at the Ferrari strategy department headed up by Jain, rather than his race engineer Riccardo Adami.
Ted said: “I think that’s because the strategy department is so compartmentalised at Ferrari from the race engineers.
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Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz reflects on all the big talking points from the Miami Grand Prix
“You’ve got Ravin Jain, you’ve got his strategy department, and then [Leclerc’s engineer] Brian Bozzi and Riccardo Adami, have to default. They don’t have any autonomy on strategy at all, whereas I think the likes of McLaren’s Will Joseph and Tom Stallard, they’re always discussing it, they’re much more integrated.
“And why on earth, if they knew that there was a possibility of Lewis starting on the hards and then going to the mediums, they should have seen this in a meeting on Sunday morning and prepared for it.
“I think it’s more separated. I think that’s why he said, ‘you guys’. He’s saying: ‘You strategy guys, in your little bunker there, where it takes 10 minutes for anything to get through to you, hurry up, get on it!'”
Brundle: Ferrari shouldn’t behave like a football team
Brundle believes that the underlying reason for Hamilton’s frustration is Ferrari’s hugely disappointing to start to his debut campaign with the Italian team.
Following Hamilton’s arrival in a blockbuster switch after 12 years with Mercedes, Ferrari were expected to be in championship contention having narrowly missed out on last season’s constructors’ title to McLaren.
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Hamilton led from start to finish as he claimed his first victory with Ferrari in the Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix
A victory in the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint aside, Ferrari have not been in contention for victory at any of the opening six full-length races, with Leclerc claiming their only podium in Saudi Arabia.
Brundle said: “I think it’s quite telling, the sarcasm of the messages, and how upset Lewis is.
“He’d have been really frustrated in that race, 23 laps behind Esteban Ocon in the customer Ferrari with 300 people in the factory. Trying to get past Ocon’s Haas, that’s not where Lewis expected to be this year, so I’d imagine his mood wasn’t too good.”
Despite Ferrari’s struggles, Brundle says they should not panic by sacking Vasseur, with scrutiny on the Frenchman’s job likely to increase as Ferrari face their first home race of the season at Imola next weekend.
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Hamilton and Leclerc discuss Ferrari’s strategy during the Miami GP
Brundle added: “Of course they’re going to be super unhappy at Ferrari. They expect to be contenders for the championship, especially with a line-up of Leclerc and Hamilton.
“What they mustn’t do is behave like a football team and fire the manager, fire everybody, and change for the sake of change. That won’t improve anything at all. We have seen teams make that mistake.
“They were the fifth-fastest team, and that’s really a big issue. They’ve got to understand that. If they could change the car, they would, if they knew what to do with it. There will be some heavy conversations at Ferrari, there has to be.”
F1’s European season begins with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on May 16-18, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
