Tension appears to be brewing between Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari engineer Riccardo Adami following an awkward exchange during the Monaco Grand Prix.
Fans noticed that the seven-time world champion appeared to be blanked by Adami after asking "Are you upset with me?" over team radio following the race.
This came after Hamilton had expressed frustration with unclear communications from his team throughout the event, creating what appeared to be a frosty atmosphere within the Ferrari camp.
Hamilton had qualified fourth fastest for the Monaco race but was forced to start from P7 after being demoted for impeding Max Verstappen in Q1.
Lewis Hamilton has not had the greatest of starts with Ferrari
Reuters
The 40-year-old Briton managed to improve his position during the race, overtaking Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso to claim fifth place.
Despite this recovery, Hamilton finished a substantial 45 seconds behind the race leaders, with Lando Norris taking the chequered flag ahead of Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri.
The tension between Hamilton and Adami became evident during a radio exchange towards the end of the race.
Hamilton asked: "Are they still ahead by a minute?"
Adami responded that the drivers ahead were simply "fighting", prompting a frustrated Hamilton to reply: "You're not answering the question. But it doesn't really matter, I'm just asking, am I a minute behind or?"
The Ferrari engineer eventually confirmed those at the front were "48 seconds" ahead, but the exchange highlighted communication issues within the team.
Following the race, Hamilton spoke candidly to Sky Sports about the communication issues.
When asked about being told "Push now, this is our race" over team radio, the veteran driver was critical.
"It wasn't very clear... the information wasn't that clear. I didn't really understand 'this is our race'," Hamilton said.
Lewis Hamilton finished eighth at the Monaco Grand Prix
Reuters
"I didn't know what I was fighting for. Am I fighting for the next spot ahead? In actual fact when I look at the data I wasn't near anybody ahead.
"I used up my tyres a lot in that moment but I was so far away from them."
Ferrari chief Frederic Vasseur has dismissed suggestions of underlying tensions between Hamilton and Adami.
"When the driver is asking something between Turn 1 and Turn 3 we have to wait to reply to avoid to speak during the corners," Vasseur explained.
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Lewis Hamilton has not had the greatest of starts at Ferrari
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"It's not that we are sleeping, it's not that we are having a beer on the pit wall.
"It's just because we have a section of the track where we agreed before to speak with the drivers."
Vasseur added: "When I spoke to him after the race he was not upset."
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