Retour
Lewis Hamilton needs to have a "very difficult conversation" with Ferrari amid suggestions the seven-time world champion may have lost trust in his team. The Scuderia have developed an unwanted reputation for making costly strategy decisions in the heat of the action. The latest came in Malaysia earlier this month, where Ferrari were among several teams to send their cars out with slick tyres on a still-wet track after a rain delay.
When the race got going and it became clear to them that they had made a mistake, they asked Hamilton to come into the pit lane to change to intermediates. Hamilton then snapped back over the radio to say that would be the wrong thing to do, and he stayed out on track instead.
The seven-time world champion was proven right, as he found supreme pace on those soft slicks once the track had dried enough and salvaged a podium finish. But things didn't go well a week later in Singapore when, again, he went against the wishes of the pit wall.
This time, he was asked to follow team-mate Charles Leclerc into the pits during a virtual safety car period but, while the Monegasque complied, Hamilton stayed out. It backfired, as the Brit was left on old, spent tyres for the rest of the race and, while he was briefly second, he fell to sixth by the time he took the chequered flag.
The incident prompted suggestions that Hamilton may have lost trust in Ferrari's strategists to make the right calls. Analysing the situation, former F1 strategist and current Sky Sports F1 analyst Bernie Collins broke down both incidents and came to the conclusion that Hamilton needs to sit down with the team to iron things out.
She said: "If we go back a week to Malaysia, we had the same sort of lack of trust, for want of another word. They started on a dry tyre, then the call came to switch to an intermediate tyre. Lewis said, 'That's the wrong thing, we need to stick this out now.'
"He had a discussion with the pit wall, an argumentative discussion, stayed on the tyre that he was on, and ultimately that ended up very similar to Leclerc towards the end of the race.
"However, I do think that shows more globally that Lewis isn't trusting that Ferrari team. He's questioning their decisions, and in this sort of quick decision-making moment under a VSC, there's not the time to have all the back and forth about what he thinks or why he thinks it or doesn't think it.
"But it's very difficult from a pit wall and Lewis's side to then think, 'Okay, last week I questioned them, I think I was correct. This week I'm going to question them, maybe I'm correct or incorrect.' And then there was an opportunity later on, I think even after they missed the VSC, to do a full pit stop and still be able to beat Piastri, and they didn't take that either.
"There was the decision then to string it out and hope for another safety car. So I think there were lots of decisions that should have been done differently, and I think they should be having a very difficult conversation between Lewis and his engineers, or the strategy team, or Fred, whoever needs to be involved.
"Say, 'Where is the trust when we make these decisions? What is the protocol for how that decision is taken, and why?'"
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
Big moments. Packed grandstands. A championship battle that’s heating up.
When the Formula 1 season delivers like this, watching from home just isn’t the same as being there when the lights go out.
With Gullivers Sports Travel, you can experience the most iconic races on the Formula 1 calendar LIVE! Enjoy tickets, handpicked hotels, and seamless travel with one of the UK’s leading sports travel specialists.
Retour
Top
| Politique de confidentialité Conditions d'utilisation Contact |
Actualiser
|
All the best breaking news stories from Apex Football Lite. Optimised for feature phones and low end Android devices, Apex Football Lite helps users with legacy devices and poor network connectivity access the latest football news and live scores. Particularly relevant for breaking football news in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.