Ferrari Chaos: Hamilton Furious Over Leclerc and Team Strategy

A scandal erupted within Ferrari during the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton openly voiced his frustration with teammate Charles Leclerc and the team's strategic decisions in the middle of the race. The Briton missed out on a podium finish by less than nine-tenths of a second, but according to him, he lost far more than that — thanks to confusion over strategy and his teammate's reluctance to let him through.

On lap 43, Hamilton caught up to Leclerc and radioed in that he was noticeably quicker than the Monegasque driver, expecting the team to order Leclerc to let him pass. Ferrari did call Leclerc into the pits for a tyre change, but he ignored the instruction and only pitted a lap later. Hamilton couldn't hide his sarcasm over the radio: "Great job, guys. Brilliant way to lose time."

Breaking Down the Situation After the Finish

Hamilton had cooled down somewhat by the finish, but he didn't back down from his position, promising to discuss the matter with the team later, away from the cameras and live broadcast. "It's hard watching how it works at Mercedes — George gets moved aside the moment he's asked, and he's free to keep fighting for position. Meanwhile I was on a different strategy from everyone else and could have been attacking George. It's frustrating. If we want to win the championship, we need to pick up points wherever we can. Today I lost several seconds stuck behind Charles, and unfortunately that decided the outcome of the race," lamented the seven-time world champion.

The lost time behind Leclerc wasn't the only issue. Hamilton was even more incensed by the team's sluggishness during the virtual safety car period — at first, Ferrari wasn't planning to call him in for a tyre change at all. "What are we waiting for? Am I some kind of guinea pig here?" the driver demanded, after which the team finally sent him to the pits.

The Team Principal's Explanation

After the race, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur attempted to clarify the situation. According to him, the plan had indeed not included a pit stop for Hamilton — under the prepared strategy, he was meant to finish the race on his hard tyres, but the driver himself hadn't been told.

"At that point we wanted to go to the end — in my view, that was the right call, since Antonelli was falling behind Lewis and struggling. But there was no way to communicate that to Lewis without other teams picking up on it and reacting. That's exactly why our communication and strategy were handled the way they were," Vasseur explained.

After 12 rounds of the season, Hamilton sits third in the drivers' standings, trailing both Mercedes drivers. He is 59 points behind championship leader Antonelli, but the Briton still has his sights set on a record eighth world title. "It's incredibly tight, and every point is a hard fight. We have a good car, and overall the strategy today was the right call. I believe everyone in the team is doing their absolute best. If we can improve the power unit further, we could still cause problems for the Mercedes boys. For now, there are going to be some conversations about what happened in today's race," Hamilton concluded.

Source: sport.cz