Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton accused Ferrari of being slow in taking decisions when his request to overtake teammate Charles Leclerc and chase Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was agreed upon but not before a prolonged waiting period, according to the Briton. The incident took place at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.
“Take a tea break while you’re at it,” were the words uttered by Hamilton to the Ferrari pit. Once Ferrari finally agreed to let him go past Leclerc to chase Antonelli, another incident took place between the two Ferrari cars.
Once it was clear even Hamilton wouldn’t be able to chase down Antonelli, Ferrari asked Hamilton to give the position back to Leclerc. But Hamilton seemed to not give the position away immediately, waiting for a lap to do so, ensuring a resigned prompt from Leclerc.
After the race ended, the British driver said he wouldn’t apologise for having fire in his belly yet and took aim at Ferrari’s decision timing.
Hamilton said: “It wasn’t even anger. It wasn’t like, effing and blinding and anything like that. It’s like, ‘make a decision!’
“You’re sitting there on the chair, you’ve got the stuff in front of you, make the decision, quick. That’s how I was. We’re in a panic, we’re trying to keep the car on the track. We’re computing things fast.
“I don’t know what you’re going to write, or whether I was disrespectful or whatever. I honestly don’t feel I was. I was like, ‘come on guys, I want to win’.”
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Hamilton then admitted that the car was below what their expectations for this season was and that at this moment the Ferrari drivers were fighting for seventh and eighth positions in the World Championships. Oscar Piastri continued his winning run to take 1st position while teammate Lando Norris finished second for a McLaren one-two.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
