Lewis Hamilton points out important problem at Ferrari with honest comments after Dutch Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton points out important problem at Ferrari with honest comments after Dutch Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton said he’ll need to have a chat with his team about Ferrari’s strategy after missing out on a podium at the Dutch Grand Prix. He finished fourth at Zandvoort, just under a second behind his Mercedes teammate George Russell.

Hamilton started the race in fifth but slipped to sixth after Oscar Piastri passed him at the start. That meant he stayed out longer on his first set of tires, giving him fresher ones for the second part of the race compared to the cars around him.

He soon passed Piastri and caught up to his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, who was close to making a pit stop. Hamilton asked his race engineer if Leclerc could let him through so he could challenge the cars ahead. Leclerc wanted to stay out longer than Russell and didn’t pit right away, but he did stop a lap later—a move that ended up costing both him and Hamilton some valuable time.

Later, when Hamilton was leading after others had pitted, Ferrari delayed his own pit stop. Over the radio, Hamilton asked why he was kept out so long, joking, “Are you using me as a guinea pig?” After being passed by Lando Norris and Kimi Räikkönen, a virtual safety car allowed Hamilton to pit for used soft tires with 18 laps to go. However, many of his rivals also pitted during the VSC, which reduced the advantage of his fresher tires.

By the race’s end, Leclerc was on newer soft tires and caught up to Hamilton, even though he was six seconds behind after the stops. After the race finished, Leclerc passed Hamilton and seemed to shake his head, but Hamilton seemed more frustrated after the race.

“I’m looking at how Mercedes are running their race,” Hamilton said, referring to their quick move to let a faster driver, Antonelli, pass Russell for second place. “They have the car and are fighting for the championship. Here, I’m stuck, losing seconds. We definitely need to talk about this after the race.”

“Today was really frustrating,” he added. “I’m here to win, and I believe this team can do it. To win championships, every point counts. The last few races have been tough with penalties, and today losing time behind Charles made a difference in the end. My goal is to lead this team to the championship, and we have some work to do.”

When asked if he had talked to Hamilton after the race, Leclerc said, “No, but sometimes there’s frustration on my side, sometimes on Lewis’ side. Overall, we get along really well, so there won’t be any problems.”