Both Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vassuer were quick to clear the air following the Miami GP, citing “the heat of the battle” as the cause.
Miami was another tricky race to add to the ever-growing list of poor performances for the Scuderia drivers.
Hamilton came home in 8th place with his teammate Charles Leclerc just ahead in 7th.
The Ferrari's finished over a minute behind Oscar Piastri, who won the race in his McLaren and extended his lead in the championship to 16 points over teammate Lando Norris.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc battle on track
Reuters
The latter stages of the race focused heavily on the feuding Ferrari drivers, caused by a split of strategies. Lewis was on the medium tyre, whereas his teammate was on hard compound, leading to the seven-time World Champion asking to swap positions as he was faster.
These communications went back and forth and the Briton’s radio messages became increasingly tense.
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The length of time it took led to a sarcastic message from Hamilton, telling them to “have a tea break whilst you’re at it” as well as stating it was “not good teamwork.”
Following the race, Hamilton and Vassuer spoke to the media, including Motorsport Week, mentioning their post-race discussion and clearing the air.
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Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur in deep conversation during the Miami GP
Reuters
Vasseur very quickly downplayed the comments over the radio, stating there were “no issues at all” and emphasising the predicament his driver faced.
“I can perfectly understand their frustration when we are asking something like this," he said.
“I never saw in my life and trust me that I had to ask this kind of situation a couple of times in my life, I never saw someone go “OK, you can go, it’s not an issue, I’m pleased to let you go’.
Vasseur added that there’s a mutually established trust between the Ferrari pit wall and his drivers.
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“We need to be clear between us that in this situation, he has to talk to us, he has to understand what was my feeling on the pit wall, that he can trust me, I can trust him, and the same with Charles, and when I have to take a decision, I’m taking a decision for Ferrari," he added.
Hamilton has been struggling since his Sprint GP win in China, back in March, but explained his side after the race:
“Fred came to my room, I just put my hand on his shoulder and I did calm down,” he commented.
“It’s not good to be so sensitive. I could have said way worse things on the radio.”
Hamilton preparing for the Miami GP
Reuters
Following on with questions about the nature of the comments he made on the radio he continued: “Look, you’ve got to understand that we’re under a huge amount of pressure within the cars."
“You’re never going to get the most peaceful messages come through in the heat of a battle.”
Ferrari currently sits 4th in the championship, already 152 points behind championship leaders McLaren.
