Lewis Hamilton issues ‘ignore you’ warning over Ferrari strategy concerns

Lewis Hamilton has spoken with Ferrari about his concerns over being put on the “exact same strategy” as Charles Leclerc in Austria, saying he doesn’t want it to get to the point that he “ignores” team instructions.

11 races into his first season with Ferrari, Hamilton has yet to put his SF-25 on the podium while his team-mate Leclerc has four top three results, the most recent coming at the Red Bull Ring.

Lewis Hamilton: I don’t want to get to a point where I’m ignoring you

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The team-mates, who both started the Grand Prix on the medium Pirelli tyres, ran 3-4 for most of the race as the McLarens stormed off into the distance. They were both put onto fresh hard tyres in their first stop with Leclerc bolting on a set of mediums in his second stop.

Hamilton, called in to mimic his team-mate’s strategy, argued that he wanted to stay out longer.

Lewis Hamilton: My tyres are okay. Can I extend? How many more laps left?
Riccardo Adami: And box, 20 laps.
Lewis Hamilton: I don’t want to stop.
Riccardo Adami: Box, box.

Hamilton pitted, his two-stop strategy resulting in a P4 finish behind Leclerc.

Stand-in Ferrari team principal Jerome d’Ambrosio argued that it was the “standard optimal strategy, and that was the most straightforward thing to do.”

Hamilton, though, has made it clear he doesn’t want standard or straightforward.

What he wants is to be allowed to race for the best position possible, even if it comes with a bit of risk.

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“Even just an hour ago, I brought it up but I also mentioned it after the race and we’ve had time to reflect on it,” Hamilton told the media, including PlanetF1.com, at Silverstone.

“I think the team’s best view was, I think, they just wanted to make sure they secured third and fourth, which is totally fine.

“I said, ‘look, I’m not here to start fourth and finish fourth. I’m racing for every little bit that we can gain.’

“In a scenario like that, for example, both of us were on the same strategy, they had us on the exact same strategy. I think we went both medium, hard, medium.

“I said I would have done medium, medium, hard, so at least I was off-set at the end. I never want to do the same thing as my team-mate ever.

“And in that last stint, for example, we were not under pressure from the cars behind.

“They said, ‘yeah, we would have got overtaken by Charles towards the end.’ But I said: ‘well, there could have been a Safety Car, and in that point there was no risk in taking the gamble.’

“I said: ‘I don’t want to get to a point where I’m ignoring you.’

“So what we’re doing is working on our communication. And we’re still getting to know each other, how we like to operate. And that’s understood.”

Hamilton and Ferrari can turn the page quickly on the Austrian Grand Prix having arrived at Silverstone on Thursday for the start of the British Grand Prix weekend.

However, in a staggering stat, Hamilton will line up on the grid at the British Grand Prix seeking to end a 13-race run off the podium, which equals his worst-ever streak.

Asked if there was the potential to end that this weekend, he replied: “I mean, I don’t really look at those stats things, so it isn’t really something that affects me, or I think about.

“Of course, still it would be a great place to be able to change that. So that’s what we work towards.”

The Briton believes Ferrari’s Austrian Grand Prix upgrade, which included a revised floor design, saw the team take a step forward with the SF-25.

“I do,” he said when asked about it. “I think we did take a step. We’re really hopeful that that continues.

“I think we still need to try and extract more from this car. There are still a few team problems that we’re trying to work through, some short-term and some long-term. So we’re trying to make the best of what we have.”

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