Lewis Hamilton slams Ferrari strategy at Miami Grand Prix as poor form continues
Lewis Hamilton was left frustrated by Ferrari’s strategy after finding himself stuck behind teammate Charles Leclerc for key portions of the Miami Grand Prix.
Starting the race in 12th, Hamilton had moved through the field to find himself behind Leclerc on the fresher and quicker medium tyres.
But the seven-time world champion’s patience soon began to wear thin as he waited for an order from the team radio to overtake his teammate and progress further up the leaderboard.
‘I’m just burning up my tires behind him,’ a visibly frustrated Hamilton said over the team radio.
‘You want me to sit here for the whole race? This is not good teamwork, that’s all I’m gonna say,’ he added when told to wait further before a decision was made.
When eventually allowed to pass Leclerc and pursue Kimi Antonelli ahead, Hamilton relayed his unhappiness at how long the decision had taken, saracastly responding: ‘Have a tea break while you’re at it.’
Later in the race, Hamilton was told to swap back the position, but with Williams’ Carlos Sainz just under two seconds behind, Hamilton was again frustrated. ‘Do you want me to let him (Sainz) past as well?’ he said.
Speaking after the race, Hamilton sought to defuse tensions but admitted his team had plenty of room for improvement after another disappointing display.
‘Once I got past the Haas and I got onto the medium tyre I was feeling really optimistic, the car was coming back alive and I was really thinking I had the potential to catch the guys,’ he said.
‘I lost a lot of time behind Charles Leclerc and in that moment I was thinking let’s make a concise decision and not waste time.
‘I’m sure people didn’t like certain topics but you’ve got to understand it’s frustrating, people say way worse things than I say, it was more sarcastic than anything. I’m not frustrated now but we will work internally and we keep pushing.’
Asked about the teams stategy, particularly after a similar debacle had occured between him and Leclerc in China, Hamilton responded: ‘The way my mind works for example in China where I was clearly holding another car up and I personally don’t want to lose that place but if it means the team can get further ahead, I want that for the team.
‘That is why I decided to let Charles past in China for example. Today, I was on a different strategy and a much quicker tyre at the time. Charles was clearly struggling a bit then and it took a long time for everyone to see it but by then it’s too late.’
Leclerc, meanwhile, sought to keep his feelings closer to his chest, telling Sky Sports: ‘It’s a difficult situation, I think I will unfortunately go for the boring answer and I’m not going to comment too much here.
‘It’s obvious today is not the way we want to manage a race, we will discuss internally to make better decisions.
‘There’s no bad feelings for Lewis [Hamilton] absolutely not, it’s just as a team we need to do better and today was a proof of that. For the rest I don’t want to speak more into the details.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: Max Verstappen fumes at Red Bull over pit-lane crash in Miami sprint
MORE: Charles Leclerc crashes out of Miami sprint race… on way to the grid
MORE: Will Max Verstappen race in Miami Grand Prix after announcing birth of baby girl?
