Lewis Hamilton on feisty radio comments: ‘I won’t apologize for being a fighter’

Lewis Hamilton may be the second most experienced Formula 1 driver in history with 362 grand prix starts, but he insists he remains as motivated as ever – and says his feisty radio comments are just proof of this.

Ferrari’s strategy was highly scrutinised again in Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix as Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc ended up hindering one another, quibbling over the same piece of tarmac.

Having started on hard tyres from 12th on the grid, Hamilton was eighth shortly after his pitstop, and grew increasingly frustrated with Leclerc’s car right in front of him, now that the Briton was on a softer compound. Speaking to his race engineer Riccardo Adami over team radio, he complained about “burning up his tyres”, lamented “not good teamwork”, and added “have a tea break while you’re at it”.

Hamilton did go on to clarify that his comments were ‘sarcasm, not even anger’, and added: “I mean, it was all PG, at least. Right? For sure, I don't know what you're going to write, whether I was disrespectful or whatever. Honestly, I didn't feel it was.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images

“I was just like, come on, guys, I just want to win. I've still got that fire in my belly. I can feel a little bit of it really coming out there. I'm not going to apologise for being a fighter. I'm not going to apologise for still wanting it. And I know everyone in the team does too.”

Ferrari eventually asked Leclerc to let his team-mate through, but Hamilton failed to make inroads into Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s advantage, and the same dilemma arose again – the other way around – as Leclerc’s more durable, hard rubber proved more competitive towards the end of the race.

Hamilton eventually stepped aside for his team-mate to have a shot at catching Antonelli, though the red – and, this time, blue – cars still finished seventh and eighth. Team boss Frederic Vasseur then made a point of clearing the air with his drivers, in order to maintain the harmony within the squad.

“In this situation, [Hamilton] has to understand what was my feeling on the pitwall,” Vasseur said. “He can trust me, I can trust him, and the same with Charles.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari

Photo by: Ferrari

“When I have to make a decision, I am taking a decision for Ferrari with the element that you have live. It's not that you have 30 minutes to have a look on the data and so on. You have to decide who is the fastest on track, if it's coming from the DRS or not. I'm perhaps a bit slow, but it took me one lap or one lap and a half to make a decision.

“When you are behind, you have the feeling that you have to swap in the next corner, and when you are in front, you say ‘please have a look if it's not the DRS effect’. I think it was the reverse situation 10 laps later.”

The Miami race was the first grand prix this season where Ferrari failed to contend for a podium finish at all, but Hamilton remains convinced that better times are yet to come – with upcoming upgrades, and stringent tests on front wing flexibility, which the Scuderia expects to have a positive impact on its performance relative to its rivals.

“I truly believe that when we fix some of the problems we have with the car, we'll be back in the fight with the Mercedes, with the Bulls,” the seven-time world champion said. “And it just can't come quicker.

“We'll try something different in the next race. We'll keep working on our processes. I look forward to the time where maybe I can fight for a podium. That would be nice.”