Hamilton: Leclerc and I Aren’t Where We Want to Be

After a tough Miami Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton opened up about his race, and addressed the team radio controversy involving Charles Leclerc.

Finishing eighth isn’t what you’d expect from a Ferrari driver, especially one like Hamilton. Still, the seven-time world champion tried to take some positives from the weekend.

“First of all, I actually enjoyed the race,” Hamilton said. “Starting 12th, we knew it would be an uphill battle. Right now, we’re simply not where we want to be.”

Hamilton pointed out that Ferrari has been struggling for pace recently:
“We’ve lacked speed and performance in the last two races. We know what the issues are, we’re just waiting for the right updates to move forward.”

Running in the lower half of the top ten has been frustrating for the team.
“Once I cleared the Haas and got heat into the medium tyres, I felt the car coming alive. I really thought we had the pace to move up.”

But things got tense behind Leclerc.
“I lost a lot of time stuck behind Charles. At that point, I just asked for a decision, because I didn’t want to waste any more time. I know some of what I said on the radio didn’t sit well with everyone, but it came from frustration. It was more sarcasm than anger. I’m over it now. We’ll deal with it inside the team and move on.”

Does Ferrari need to rethink its strategy again?

Hamilton made it clear that team-first thinking is still important to him, but it has to be situational.
“Take China, for example. I knew I was holding up the other car, and as much as I didn’t want to give up my position, I did it for the team. That’s what matters.”

“In Miami, though, I was on a completely different strategy with much fresher tyres. Charles was struggling at that point, but the team didn’t act quickly enough. By the time we all realized it, the opportunity had passed.”