Lewis Hamilton has told his Ferrari team they must improve their strategic execution after he was left frustrated by their calls at the Dutch Grand Prix, where he finished fourth. The British driver believes a podium was possible had Ferrari acted more decisively, comparing their approach unfavourably with the swiftness of his former team, Mercedes.
Hamilton's frustration over delayed pit call
The race at Zandvoort was won by McLaren's Lando Norris, with Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and George Russell completing the podium. Hamilton, running a different tyre strategy, was quicker than his teammate Charles Leclerc but was forced to wait before Ferrari pitted Leclerc, costing him valuable seconds.
“Great way of wasting time, good job,” Hamilton said over the team radio when Ferrari finally called Leclerc in. In contrast, Mercedes had quickly instructed Russell to move aside for Antonelli in the final stages, when the Italian was on much faster tyres.
“I think what’s clear is I’m looking ahead and seeing Mercedes execute like that,” Hamilton said. “They’ve got the car, they’re fighting for the championship, in the lead and they did it straight away. Here, I’m sitting back, losing seconds. It’s something that we need to discuss offline.”
Championship implications
Despite finishing second, Antonelli extended his lead in the drivers' championship. Russell and Hamilton are now 59 points behind the Italian, and Hamilton stressed that Ferrari cannot afford to drop any more points if they are to challenge for the title.
“Today was definitely frustrating for me,” Hamilton added. “I’m here to win and I really believe that this team can win. To win championships you have to pick up every point. The last few races have been difficult with penalties and today I lost several seconds behind Charles which I think ultimately would have made the difference at the end.
“My goal is to try and lead this team to the championship and we’ve got some work to do for sure.”
Mercedes' team orders justified
Mercedes' decision to swap their drivers was questioned, notably by Russell at the time, as he is also in the title fight. However, the British driver accepted it was the right call.
“We’ve always said as a team, when we’re on different strategies, we’re never going to fight, that’s always just been our sort of rules,” Russell said. “Kimi was ahead of me anyway, so he deserved to finish ahead. When you’re in the race, you want to fight for every single position but with the pace, with a new tyre, he would have overtaken anyway. So it’s the right decision.”
Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, said the call was straightforward from the pit wall. “Team orders are always harsh from one drivers’ perspective but it is what we always discussed,” he said. “We are not losing time with each other if there are competitors breathing down our neck. Today wasn’t a difficult call.”
Hamilton's remarks highlight a growing concern within Ferrari about their strategic decision-making, with the team needing to close the gap to Mercedes and McLaren in the upcoming races to keep Hamilton's championship hopes alive.
