Lewis Hamilton’s criticism of his team’s strategy may have caused red faces at Ferrari, but his team mate was no happier with their tactics.
Charles Leclerc told Ferrari they risked his position to Carlos Sainz Jnr behind after he was told to let Hamilton by.Ferrari ordered Leclerc to let Hamilton through after the pair passed Sainz and were running seventh and eighth. Hamilton, running the softer medium tyre compound while Leclerc was on hards, was eager to use his tyre advantage to attack Andrea Kimi Antonelli ahead.
However Ferrari were wary of the lingering threat from Sainz behind. They waited until seven laps after their drivers had passed Sainz (including one lap affected by a Virtual Safety Car period) before ordering them to swap places.
Hamilton criticised his team, in messages replayed on the world television broadcast, for what he considered a slow decision. “Have a tea break while you’re at it, come on,” he snapped.
However Leclerc was unimpressed to find himself close to Sainz after letting Hamilton by. His race engineer Bryan Bozzi told him “We’ll swap the cars in turn 17 and give Hamilton a chance on medium, and if he doesn’t pass we’ll let him back.”
“Careful with Carlos behind,” Bozzi added. After dropping behind Hamilton, Leclerc replied: “Oh, that’s stupid. I didn’t know Carlos was that close.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Sainz was not immediately within DRS range of Leclerc, as Bozzi pointed out, but drew within a second as the Ferrari driver began to struggle in his team mate’s slipstream. “I need Lewis to go faster,” he told Bozzi, “I’ve just got in dirty air now.”
“Considering the wake, these are good laps,” Bozzi replied shortly afterwards.
Leclerc continued to warn his team he was losing time because he’d fallen behind Hamilton. “I’m overheating tyres,” he said. “I’m saying that because that’s why I’m losing [time] in [turn] seven-eight, the tyres are warm.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
After giving Hamilton 13 laps to close on Antonelli, Ferrari decided to swap their cars back. They originally told Leclerc, “we will swap the cars in turn 11 now,” but did not give a corresponding message to Hamilton, so the cars remained in the same order.
“So Lewis was not informed,” Bozzi told Leclerc as he accelerated out of turn 16, “he’s been informed now we will swap the cars at turn 17.” Again the cars remained in the same order.
This time Ferrari had given an instruction to Hamilton, but he did not do as told immediately. “We’re going to swap the cars in 17,” said his race engineer Ricardo Adami. “So you don’t think I’m going to catch up or what?” Hamilton answered. “Yes,” Adami replied.
“Go for a swap in 11, please,” said Adami halfway around the next lap. Hamilton, who had halved his deficit to Antonelli to 2.7 seconds, complied.
But with only five laps remaining, Leclerc told the team there was no longer any point in switching back. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” he said. “Now we are seeing Antonelli, let’s try to get him and then otherwise we are going to lose more time than anything. Then we discuss after the race.”
Leclerc, who experienced similar confusion over Ferrari’s team orders in Las Vegas last year, closed to within one-and-a-half seconds of Antonelli by the flag, but ran out of time to attack the Mercedes.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur defended their management of the race afterwards. “On the strategy front, our calls were right,” he said.
“We pitted both our drivers under the Virtual Safety Car and this allowed Lewis to run behind Charles at the restart. Then we swapped the cars as soon as we were sure we were not putting Charles at risk from the cars behind, as Lewis was on medium tyres and we wanted to try and catch Kimi Antonelli. It didn’t work so we reversed the call at the end as per our standard procedure.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories - and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
2025 Miami Grand Prix
- Nothing for Ferrari to learn from Miami team orders episode – Vasseur
- Hamilton proud of Ferrari as ‘we’re taking a beating from media and people’s comments’
- McLaren legality never in doubt says Piastri as FIA’s post-race check clears car
- Albon did not disobey team orders in Miami says Vowles after Sainz’s complaint
- McLaren score their most emphatic win since Hamilton’s 2008 Silverstone triumph
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
6th May 2025, 11:56
The calls were right… just extremely slow and very poorly executed.
BasCB (@bascb)
6th May 2025, 20:18
Yeah, they should have switched them immediately to make Hamilton use those fresher mediums to try and catch Antonelli and when it didn’t work they could always switch back as soon as the mediums started to wear and the hards came into their optimal window.
Not wait 3-4 laps too long with either move and do it when it becomes stupid.
Ajaxn
7th May 2025, 22:37
Agreed.
Hamilton, with his mediums, got to within 2.5 seconds of Antonelli. Had they swapped immediately, He might have made it to DRS range.
After they swapped back, Antonelli ended over 6 seconds ahead of Lecrec. By that time, the mediums were spent, and the hards were the better tires.
Jake
6th May 2025, 12:10
I thought it was quite clear Ferrari were waiting to clear Sainz before making the original switch, but that wasn’t picked up once.
For me, the one that took too long was swapping them back. Should have been done after just a few laps when it was clear Hamilton didn’t have the pace to catch Antonelli, as the performance was only ever head towards Leclerc given the tyre situation.
roadrunner (@roadrunner)
6th May 2025, 13:43
The fact, that it’s nowhere mentioned that they were trying to gap Sainz first, speaks volumes about the quality of TV and news coverage. Either they aren’t able or not willing to see a simple and logical explanation. It just doesn’t fit the narrative to add more drama, does it?
However, unfortunately the problem is somewhat more fundamental. If you’re planning to micromanage your drivers like Ferrari did (they were fighting for 6,7,8 and 9, let them race for havens sake) and you start the second car on the alternative strategy and gamble on a (V)SC it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that when the (V)SC does appear, your cars are racing each other with the car on the faster tire stucked behind.
Ferrari seemed to be completely caught out by that and the communication was amateurish. What do you have pre race briefings for? Plan ahead.Then they had more time to think about it during the second VSC. Give your driver detailed feedback and clear instructions. They were right to gap Sainz first, but they made a mess out of it. The second swap was definitely to late and communicated as badly as the first one. Ferrari should consider itself lucky to have two drivers willing to play the team game (Hamilton offers to swap in China, Leclerc didn’t want the position back in the US), but the whole process that leads to the decision making needs to be completely reviewed because it happens time and time again with Ferrari.
osnola
6th May 2025, 15:44
Thats what they are doing.. plan A. B, C,D,E etc etc..
But managing drivers on track no fitting one of the “plans” is strange to them.
SteveP
6th May 2025, 15:49
Definitely amateurish. They FV claimed they needed a few laps before the first swap to determine the relative speeds of their cars…
Translation: We were dumb and hadn’t looked at the relative pace until LH told us to sort out a swap.
Reactive management rather than proactive.
Make the notes and calculations before the situation hits you in the face.
It’s called planning, you prepare plans for things that might and are likely to happen.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
7th May 2025, 18:32
@roadrunner It might have been a good idea to at least have told Lewis that clearing Carlos was the reasoning. It’s not like Carlos could have done anything about it, and Lewis might have been more understanding. (I think you are correct, it was just badly communicated, to the point where at least one of the drivers – and the team principal! – didn’t know that was the logic).
Ajaxn
7th May 2025, 22:40
If the two Ferraris are racing each other, then they are both ‘spending’ their tires, for the car behind them to pounce.
Ferdi
6th May 2025, 12:39
Hearing Charles being critical towards the team is something we have gotten used to and we understand the why. Hearing Lewis doing it, as newbee in the team is worrying stuff. He consciously made the decision to go to Ferrari with more information than we have. Does he really think this is the way to get Ferrari out of the circle they have been in for many years? Seems contra productive at least. Not Schumacher or Lauda material, which Ferrari desperately needs.
MichaelN
6th May 2025, 14:03
But that’s just the thing, that’s just two people from the last 50 years.
I like Leclerc, he’s a good guy and his qualifying laps are some of the coolest to watch on board. But he’s not bringing that AAA-level performance. I’m sure he’d do well in a championship battle with Russell, Norris or what have you – but Verstappen? I just don’t see it. Hamilton is in the last years of his career. He’s no longer as quick as he was, and there’s no shame in that. He shouldn’t be expected to lead the team, but to be a formidable teammate. He’s not quite there (yet?), but lest we forget he has more podiums than Leclerc this year, albeit in the sprints.
That said, you don’t necessarily need a Newey/Verstappen or a Brawn/Todt/Schumacher. Just look at McLaren. They’re doing a great job with a merely ‘good’ team. Ferrari doesn’t really have any good excuses for their performance this season.
Edvaldo
6th May 2025, 15:34
Leclerc has been careful with what he says about the team and where has that been leading him to?
A couple more races and Piastri, who got there yesterday, will already have won more races than him.
Ferrari is a mess. Now they released the radios from the Sprint race and it was all Hamilton’s decision to pit at that moment and go for soft tyres, as Ferrari was going for mediums for half a Sprint race. If the guy makes a difference in how they approach the competition, it’s already a positive thing. Otherwise he’ll be satisfied with wearing the suits, taking the pictures and not winning races. There’s a reason Leclerc is often compared to Alesi, two very talented guys who wasted years of their career stuck in Ferrari’s loop of incompetence.
MichaelN
6th May 2025, 16:58
This is actually Piastri’s third year, he already has more GP starts than numerous champions had when they won their title.
But yes, Leclerc’s lack of successes is a problem. He has had the misfortune of being at Ferrari under the very bad leadership of Binotto and, although I’m a bit hesitant to say, Vasseur. He showed some progress early on in 2023, but it’s just not led anywhere. But it’s not just Ferrari’s problem, although that is a big part of it. He also has a horrible pole to win conversion rate.
MichaelN
6th May 2025, 16:59
To clarify: Vasseur showed some promise in 2023.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th May 2025, 5:07
Leclerc, like ricciardo, was unlucky in that he joined a top team when they were no longer so competitive: red bull was a dominant car in 2013, then ricciardo joined in 2014 when it became mediocre, while the 2018 ferrari was every bit as good as mercedes, but leclerc was at sauber then and joined in 2019 when it was no longer competitive for titles.
It’s a shame to see someone like vettel with 4 titles and those 2 drivers none, they both beat him when they were team mates.
Ferdi
7th May 2025, 9:41
Spot on! You also need luck. Vettel got a lot of it.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
6th May 2025, 12:52
Perhaps Ferrari was too slow with both calls. But the real issue was that Hamilton wasn’t any faster after the swap, so they should not have swapped to begin with. The next time that Hamilton claims he is held up by Leclerc the team must have second thoughts about that claim.
Edvaldo
6th May 2025, 15:35
Leclerc has been careful with what he says about the team and where has that been leading him to?
A couple more races and Piastri, who got there yesterday, will already have won more races than him.
Ferrari is a mess. Now they released the radios from the Sprint race and it was all Hamilton’s decision to pit at that moment and go for soft tyres, as Ferrari was going for mediums for half a Sprint race. If the guy makes a difference in how they approach the competition, it’s already a positive thing. Otherwise he’ll be satisfied with wearing the suits, taking the pictures and not winning races. There’s a reason Leclerc is often compared to Alesi, two very talented guys who wasted years of their career stuck in Ferrari’s loop of incompetence.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th May 2025, 5:09
There’s however no comparison between leclerc’s and alesi’s ability.
Alesi should have 0 wins, schumacher dominated canada 1995 and had a technical issue that made him lose 70 seconds!
Edvaldo
7th May 2025, 13:55
You should research about all the races Alesi lost due to reliability then. Sorry, but to say he should have zero is nonsense.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th May 2025, 5:11
And the difference in performance as soon as he joined ferrari compared to alesi\berger was noteworthy, I’m not saying leclerc is the next schumacher (that’s verstappen), but he’s at least something in the middle between berger\alesi and schumacher.
Toxic
6th May 2025, 15:41
Ferrari just doing Ferrari things… nothing new!
SteveP
6th May 2025, 15:52
+1
But I keep hoping for more. How many years now? I lost count.
Maybe if they got rid of the (rumoured) nepo-hires?
Tomcat173 (@tomcat173)
7th May 2025, 2:47
Maybe next year?!
Funny how there was alot of talk in the late 90s about how much time passed from Ferrari’s last drivers championship in 1979. There was a 21 year gap between the 1979 championship and Schumacher in 2000.
It’s already been 18 years since Raikkonen’s win in 2007! Ferrari don’t even look like they’ll be in good shape for 2026..
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th May 2025, 5:15
Yes, this is most likely gonna be a record of longest gap between wdc for ferrari, they just need to go 22 years for it, so 2029, they still have some chance but a big difference is that back then they only had to compete with mclaren and williams, while now there’s red bull and merc, which showed to be more consistently competitive at the front, and are relatively new teams, although merc were around in the 50s too; think about it: either mercedes or red bull always managed to beat ferrari to a wdc, there’s only really last season where ferrari beat everyone but mclaren to the wcc.
Jungle
7th May 2025, 10:03
I wouldn’t be too surprised if Lewis pulls the pin at the end of the season on this Ferrari experiment.
Leclerc’s carreer is starting to fade too. So much promise. Like someone blowing up a ballon about to tie the knot only for it to slip out of your fingers wiz around deflating then picking it up and starting again….
Jungle
7th May 2025, 10:04
*balloon
Alonslow
6th May 2025, 15:58
Max will fix Ferrari
Margus P
6th May 2025, 16:58
Nobody can fix Ferrari until there is “Oh, mañana!” mentality.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
7th May 2025, 2:42
Ferrari drivers start on 2 different strategies. The “decisions” should have required no decisions and should have occurred automatically at first chance. If the other driver shows up behind you, let them through. The managed to get behind you so of course they are faster at that point of the race.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
7th May 2025, 18:35
@jimfromus Except on this occasion it turned out not to be the case, just a temporary effect from bedding in the hard tyres.
Ajaxn
7th May 2025, 22:47
Leclerc complained about being in the dirty air of Hamilton, so what about Hamilton on the faster tires stuck behind Leclerc. Hamilton didn’t just waste time behind his teammate, it was also costing tire life and race performance.