Lewis Hamilton spent long stretches of Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix shouting at his pit wall. “A great way of wasting time guys, good job,” he snapped over the radio after being held behind teammate Charles Leclerc, who was running a different strategy. “We are just losing time!” came another burst as George Russell’s Mercedes pulled clear for the final podium spot.
The frustration carried straight into the TV pen. Hamilton pointed at Mercedes, who had asked Russell to let Kimi Antonelli through, an order Russell obeyed straight away.
“It is difficult when you are looking ahead and you see the two Mercedes drivers, they get the call and it’s done, and they execute straight away,” Hamilton told reporters.
Ferrari finished fourth and fifth in Zandvoort, with Hamilton denied a run at Russell’s podium spot after Leclerc stayed out an extra lap ahead of him.
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Vasseur admits Ferrari held Hamilton back
Team principal Frédéric Vasseur later confirmed keeping Hamilton in the dark had been deliberate.
“We didn’t want to tell him the strategy at this stage, because we didn’t want to disclose it to the competitors. We wanted to keep him on track until the end,” Vasseur said.
He accepted the pit-wall confusion around Leclerc’s stop.
“Charles was supposed to pit, we extended one lap, and it was a kind of confusion, but I’m not worried about this.”
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Schumacher wants the row taken indoors
Ralf Schumacher, working as a pundit for Sky Deutschland, spoke on Wednesday. In his view Hamilton has reached a point in his career where public venting is beneath him.
“At his age, with his standing, you could handle it a little differently,” the former Williams and Jordan driver told formel1.de. Criticising the team in public, he argued, was not on.
He wanted the argument moved behind closed doors and called on Vasseur to intervene.
“I think it belongs internally,” Schumacher said, before going a step further on sport.de.
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“The team principal has to lay down the law at some point.”
Hamilton climbs down on Instagram
Two days after the race, Hamilton walked it back on social media.
“I’ve listened back to some of my radio and TV comments. In the heat of the moment frustration can come out, especially when you care as deeply as I do. But that wasn’t the best version of me. I take responsibility for that, and I’ll be better,” he wrote on Instagram.
“That passion comes from believing in this team, the people in it, and what we’re building together. The direction is clear. The belief is there. And the fight is absolutely still on.”
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Third on countback
Hamilton left Zandvoort third in the drivers’ standings on 183 points, level with Russell but behind on countback. Antonelli leads on 242, with Lando Norris fourth after his Dutch victory for McLaren.
Ferrari’s home race is next. Lights out at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza is at 3pm local time on Sunday, 6 September.
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