‘Stupid’ and ‘not fair’ – Untelevised Leclerc team radio emerges after Hamilton team orders
Lewis Hamilton became Charles Leclerc's third full-time Ferrari teammate at the start of F1 2025
Untelevised team radio footage from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has revealed the moment Charles Leclerc branded Lewis Hamilton’s botched team order swap as “stupid” and “not fair.”
And the Monegasque could not resist quipping – apparently sarcastically – that Hamilton “can enjoy that P8” after crossing the finish line in Baku.
Charles Leclerc: Lewis Hamilton ‘can enjoy that P8’ after ‘not fair’ team orders
Hamilton and Leclerc were involved in a team orders drama in the closing stages of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where the pair swapped positions to allow Hamilton – on fresher tyres – to challenge the cars ahead.
Having failed to make an impression on the likes of Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda, and Liam Lawson, Hamilton was asked to swap back with Leclerc on the final lap of the race.
Hamilton eased his pace on the approach to the chequered flag, but crossed the finish line slightly ahead of Leclerc, who was being pursued at the time by Lawson’s Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar.
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Speaking after the race, Leclerc implied that “rules were not respected” by Hamilton but played down the significance of the failed swap, insisting: “I really don’t care for an eighth place at the end.”
A series of untelevised messages from the closing laps in Baku have lifted the lid on Leclerc’s frustration at the time of the incident, branding Hamilton’s failure to give the position back as “stupid” and “not fair.”
With Hamilton closing in on Leclerc on fresh medium tyres – 17 laps younger than Leclerc’s hards – on Lap 42 of 51, Leclerc’s race engineer Bryan Bozzi is heard asking his driver to invert positions with his teammate.
Bozzi says: “So, Charles, we want to swap the cars in Turn 1 to let Lewis try with the mediums.”
He adds when the swap is completed: “Thank you.”
With the laps ticking by, Leclerc asks his race engineer on Lap 50 if Ferrari plan to revert the cars to their original positions if Hamilton fails to make an impression on the cars in front.
He asks: “If Lewis cannot pass in front, are we swapping back or are we keeping it like that?”
Bozzi replies: “I’ll come back to you.”
At the start of the final lap, Bozzi confirms Ferrari’s plan: “We will swap back at the end of the lap on the main straight if Lewis does not overtake.”
On the approach to the finish line, Hamilton’s engineer Riccardo Adami instructs his driver to return the place to Leclerc, warning also that Hadjar is close behind his teammate.
Adami says: “Let Charles by. He’s two, one-and-a-half [seconds] behind you. This is the last lap. And behind him is Hadjar, two seconds. Charles 1.5 behind. Let him by.”
Despite lifting off the throttle, Hamilton is unable to slow down sufficiently to let Leclerc through, crossing the finish line 0.464 seconds ahead of his teammate.
“F**k,” Hamilton says after taking the chequered flag.
Meanwhile, Bozzi is heard apologising to Leclerc, who initially insists that he does not “really care” before offering a glimpse of his true frustration with the situation.
Bozzi says: “Sorry about that.”
Leclerc replies: “Argh. Ah, I don’t really care. It’s for an eighth place, so… it’s OK. He can enjoy that P8.
“It’s just stupid because it’s not fair. But again, I don’t mind, honestly. P8 or P9, it’s been a difficult weekend, so…”
Leclerc then turns his attention to Carlos Sainz, Hamilton’s predecessor at Ferrari, who secured the first podium finish of his Williams career with third place in Baku.
Leclerc: “Is Carlos on the podium?”
Bozzi: “Yes, he is. P3.”
Leclerc: “Ah, good job too.”
More on Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton from PlanetF1.com
Speaking after the race, Hamilton issued an apology to Leclerc and admitted that he misjudged the swap at the end of the race.
He said: “Obviously I was quicker, but Charles was gracious to let me by.
“At the end, I got the message really late on and I was zoned in on the car in front of me, even though there was 0.001 [per cent] chance of passing.
“I was still hopeful, maybe. Basically, I did lift on the straight and did actually brake, but I missed it by four tenths, so that was just a misjudgement for myself. So I apologise to Charles.
“At the end of the day, it’s eighth and ninth, so…”
Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal, added: “I think the situation was clear for us that Lewis had a tyre advantage and we asked Charles to let him go to try to overtake Lawson and Tsunoda or Norris.
“On the top, Charles had the issue with the recovery [system] and we are not at the top on the engine and that, I think, was the best option for us to do this move.
“We asked to swap back and it looks like Lewis had a misjudgement on the position of the start and finish line.”
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