Lewis Hamilton insists Ferrari move hasn’t turned sour after Miami spats
Lewis Hamilton insists he has no problems with Ferrari or fellow driver Charles Leclerc but says he won’t apologise for spiky exchanges with the team during a frustrating Miami Grand Prix.
The seven-time Formula 1 champion snapped at race engineers on the team radio as he waited for them to ask Leclerc to let him pass, and then again when told to give the place back.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was sufficiently unimpressed to seek out Hamilton after the race, but the Briton played down the spat, which he attributed to “fire in my belly”.
“Fred came to my room, and I just put my hand on his shoulder and said ‘Dude, calm down! Don’t be so sensitive’,” he said after finishing eighth in Miami.
“I could have said way worse things on the radio. You should hear some of the things other people have said.
“Some of it was sarcasm, and you’ve got to understand we’re under huge pressure in the cars. You’re never going to get the most peaceful messages come through in the heat of battle.
“It is fine. I have no problems with either the team or with Charles.”
Hamilton is yet to finish better than fifth following his high-profile move to Ferrari from Mercedes during the off-season and trails his replacement, teenager Kimi Antonelli, in the standings.
The 40-year-old was trying to catch Antonelli when he felt held up by the slower Leclerc and took issue with the delay in team orders, saying: “Have a tea break while you are at it.”
After failing to make inroads into Antonelli, he was asked to give the place back to Leclerc and soon found Williams’ Carlos Sainz on his tail. “You want me to let him past as well?” he said.
Hamilton explained: “I didn’t think the decision came quick enough. For sure, in that time you’re like ‘Come on!’ It was all PG.
“I don’t know what you’re going to write, whether I was disrespectful or whatever. But I honestly don’t feel I was. I was just like ‘Come on guys, I want to win.’ I’ve still got that fire in my belly.
“And I’m not going to apologise for being a fighter. I’m not going to apologise for still wanting it. And I know everyone in the team does, too.”
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri claimed his fourth win from six races this season to tighten his grip at the top of the F1 drivers’ championship.
Teammate and chief title rival Lando Norris was second, ahead of fellow Englishman George Russell of Mercedes, with reigning champion Max Verstappen fourth.