F1 fans call on Lewis Hamilton to take major action after latest Ferrari radio message during Austrian GP.
Lewis Hamilton had a steady race at the Austrian Grand Prix, starting and finishing in fourth place. However, things got a bit tense over team radio just before his second pit stop.
Fans are now urging Hamilton to make some big decisions, especially after Ferrari’s latest controversial radio communication during the race.
On track, Hamilton had a clean run aside from an early scrap with his former teammate George Russell. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc, now his teammate, came in third. Despite that, a poor start cost him the chance to take the fight to the McLarens.
Even if Leclerc had started better, Ferrari just didn’t have the speed to match McLaren’s pace, with Lando Norris taking the win ahead of Oscar Piastri.
Third place, therefore, was the best that Hamilton could have hoped for – and as he extended his first stint, it appeared as if he could do so again in the second stint to potentially challenge at the end.
But seemingly against the seven-time champion’s wishes, his race engineer Riccardo Adami ordered him to pit on lap 51 of 70, despite Hamilton’s protests.
The Brit had gone off the circuit on lap 50 after oversteer at the turn two hairpin, and radioed in to ask: “Is my pace really bad? Because my tyres are fine?”
Their full exchange from then on is below.
Adami: “We box now. For fastest race, optimal race.”
Hamilton: “My tires are okay, can I extend? How many more laps left?”
Adami: “Box this lap, there’s 20 laps.”
Hamilton: “I don’t want to stop. There’s 20 laps left.”
Adami: “Box, box.”
Given Hamilton’s history of being able to extend his stints to achieve better results, and his experience of doing so in F1, many fans immediately questioned Ferrari’s decision to force him to pit.
However, there was no issue between the pair post-race, with Hamilton in a congratulatory mood after equalling his best race result of the season.
He said: “Great job, guys. What a great weekend and result for us. Really good job, I’m really proud of you. Let’s keep pushing. I didn’t really have the pace today, we need to figure that out. Thanks anyway.”
But fans still think that there needs to be a chance of approach.
One fan wrote: “Ferrari need some new strategy advisors. It’s not working.”
A second added: “This communication between Ferrari and Hamilton needs to be resolved soon.”
And a third claimed: “At some point Hamilton is going to start telling them that they have no clue what they’re doing when it comes to strategy.”
