Lewis Hamilton has stood by his now-viral sarcastic radio comments to Ferrari during the Miami Grand Prix, explaining they came out of frustration at the team’s slow decision-making in a critical stage of the race.
The seven-time world champion put in a strong performance, climbing from 12th on the grid to finish seventh. However, his run was disrupted when he requested to pass teammate Charles Leclerc for sixth place—something Ferrari initially denied before eventually allowing. By the time the order was given, the opportunity to chase down the cars ahead had slipped away.
Later, Ferrari asked Hamilton to return the position to Leclerc, which he did, but not without voicing his displeasure over team radio.
Speaking to Sky F1 after the race, Hamilton was in good spirits but didn’t hide his frustration over the time lost during the back-and-forth.
“Well, firstly, I really enjoyed the race,” he said. “Honestly, we knew it was going to be difficult today, starting from 12th—definitely not where we want to be. We’re clearly lacking a lot of pace.”
Hamilton acknowledged the team is aware of where performance has been lost in recent races and that they are waiting for updates to resolve the issues. But running at the lower end of the top 10 is a challenge the entire team is feeling.
“Once I got past the Haas and switched to the medium tyre, I was feeling optimistic. The car started to come alive, and I genuinely thought I had a shot at catching the guys ahead,” he explained. “I was hoping for a safety car, but that didn’t come. Then I got stuck behind Charles, and I was like, come on, let’s make a quick decision—we can’t afford to waste time.”
Hamilton also addressed the sarcastic tone of his messages, insisting they weren’t personal or rooted in anger.
“Some people didn’t like what I said, but honestly, it was more sarcasm than anything else,” he said. “People say way worse things than I do on the radio. I’m not frustrated now—I’ll handle it internally with the team.”
As Ferrari continues to grapple with pace and strategy concerns, Hamilton’s comments reflect both his competitiveness and growing impatience with the team’s indecisiveness.