‘The difference’ – Lewis Hamilton fumes at Ferrari mistake in sarcastic jibe

Lewis Hamilton was left furious by Ferrari not letting him past Charles Leclerc quickly enough in the Dutch Grand Prix.

Hamilton, who finished fourth in the race, sarcastically responded to his team on the radio regarding their strategy.

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During the race, the British F1 legend came up behind Leclerc and asked to be let past his teammate to challenge Mercedes.

Kimi Antonelli eventually finished second and George Russell third, with those teammates switching positions on request.

Hamilton didn’t get his way though, as Leclerc was asked to pit but stayed out for another lap before being ordered in.

The 41-year-old then sarcastically said over the radio at the time: “Great way of wasting time, guys. Great job.”

Eventually, Hamilton caught Drivers’ Championship rival Russell, but he didn’t have enough laps to overtake him in the end.

And after finishing a place behind Russell, he dropped down to third in the Championship standings.

It meant that the delay in letting Hamilton past Leclerc cost him a potential podium place and his second overall spot.

So, there’s no surprise that he fumed about Ferrari‘s decision-making when speaking post-race in the Netherlands.

What did Hamilton say?

“I’m here to win and I think this team can win,” Hamilton said.

“We couldn’t win this race, but to win championships you have to pick up every point and the last few races have been difficult with penalties and stuff.

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“And then today I lost several seconds behind Charles, which I think ultimately could have made the difference in the end.

“My goal is to try and lead this team to the championship. We’ve got some work to do, for sure.”

On his rivals switching positions efficiently and Ferrari not doing so, he added: “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.

“They let Kimi by and let him get on with the race. I was on a different strategy and it’s not the same here.

“That’s a little bit difficult but we’ll take it offline and when I go back now, I’ll speak to them about it.”

Hamilton will hope to have some better tactics in place with his team for the next Grand Prix in a fortnight.

The F1 grid heads to Italy and Monza from September 4, with the race taking place on Sunday, September 6.