10/05/2025 14:45
Lewis Hamilton's "sarcastic" venting over team radio underlines a
considerable problem at Ferrari, according to Martin Brundle. The
former F1 drivers contended how immediately switching the British
driver and Charles Leclerc at the Miami Grand Prix appeared to be a
"no brainer" for the Scuderia. However, it took multiple laps to
deliberate over enacting team orders, despite Hamilton pushing for
the switch to be made. Once it did act, it was too late, with the
40-year-old having used up the best of his medium tyres. Brundle
talked through how the situation unfolded at the Miami
International Autodrome - including the seven-time F1 drivers'
champion's "frustration" with the events that transpired. "On the
face of it, it looked like a no brainer, because Lewis caught them
[the cars ahead, including Leclerc] like a rocket ship, didn't he,
on those tyres," he began on the Sky Sports F1 podcast . "What was
confusing matters is that as soon as one Ferrari got in the other's
DRS [range], it looked like the faster Ferrari. "Hindsights a
wonderful thing, but when Lewis got in front, he didn't pull away,
in fact, then Charles started catching him back up..." Critical
Ferrari problem To the 65-year-old, the scenario illustrates the
hesitation on the Ferrari pit wall, something that led to
Hamilton's emotions getting the better of him over team radio. "The
radio calls, they [Ferrari] seemed to hesitate too much - they have
them for a long time, haven't they," the Briton said. "Some of the
things Lewis has said on the radio is quite sarcastic, as he said.
You can't unsay those, and I think it's quite telling, that kind of
frustration. "It's a bit unfair that we play selected radio
messages out on the TV, in a way, but it's such an important part,
especially now the drivers are buried inside the car as they are,
and you can barely see them. "It's such a window for us to
understand just what's going on inside the cockpit, those radio
calls. "I think it's quite telling, just the sort of the sarcasm of
them and how upset Lewis is. And he'd have been really frustrated
in that race, 23 laps behind Ocon in a customer Ferrari [power
unit] with 300 people in the factory... "Trying to get past Ocon's
Haas, that's not where Lewis expected to be this year. So I'd
imagine his mood wasn't too good." 'Painful listening' Despite
Ferrari and Hamilton playing off the episode post race, having
finished eighth behind his team-mate, Brundle maintained the
105-time grand prix winner cannot "unsay" those remarks. He
pinpointed the damning parting message from a disappointing weekend
in Florida, when Hamilton asked if he should let Carlos Sainz
through, too. "And it did look like they should have just swept him
straight past Charles, because one [Hamilton] started on hards and
went to medium, Charles started on medium and went to hard," he
added. "They were going to meet in the middle somewhere. "So it
seemed a bit of a no brainer, but in the end, they had to let
Charles back through - and that's when Lewis came up with his
second comment of: 'Do you want me to let the Williams through as
well', which was painful listening. "They [Ferrari] closed ranks at
the end, to sort of calm that all down. But as I said, some of
those things Lewis came out with, you can't unsay."
