Team orders became the story of a difficult Miami Grand Prix for Ferrari, as Lewis Hamilton let his frustrations be known.

Moved ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc and swapped back again, Hamilton and his Ferrari race engineer Ricciardo Adami were involved in several tense exchanges on Grand Prix Sunday in Miami, which included Hamilton sarcastically telling his team to “have a tea break”.

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari clash: Frustration justified?

It was a challenging experience for Ferrari in Miami, as despite a P3 finish for Hamilton in the sprint after a genius slick tyre call, the Scuderia lacked pace compared to McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes, with Leclerc crossing the line P7 and Hamilton P8.

But, it was far from an uneventful drive to the chequered flag for the team and their drivers, the frustration for Hamilton beginning with Adami’s choice of timing to communicate.

“Stop talking to me while I’m freaking [in] battle, man! Geesh! In the braking zone you’re talking to me!” Hamilton vented.

Having started on the hard tyre, Hamilton moved to mediums at the sole pit stop and when he started to come up behind Leclerc on the hards, the seeds for team orders were sown.

Hamilton: “How far are people ahead of Charles? I’m just burning up my tyres behind him.”

Adami: “Understood. Antonelli is 6 seconds ahead of Charles.”

Hamilton: “So you want me to just sit here [behind Leclerc] the whole race?”

Adami: “I’ll come back to you.”

Ferrari’s verdict was not one which pleased Hamilton, as they ordered him to hold station and benefit from Leclerc’s DRS.

Adami: “Want to keep DRS to Charles. Go ahead like this.”

Hamilton: “Argh… You guys are… This is not good teamwork. That’s all I’m gonna say!”

Next, Hamilton brought up the Chinese Grand Prix – Round 2 in F1 2025 – where he yielded to Leclerc.

Hamilton: “In China I got out of the way when you were on a different strategy!”

That would convince Ferrari to order the swap, not that it improved Hamilton’s mood.

Adami: “We swap the cars… We swap…”

Hamilton: “Ah! Have a tea break while you’re at it! Come on!”

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With this saga taking place over various laps, once Leclerc had let Hamilton through into P7, the closest target – Antonelli in the Mercedes – was almost five seconds ahead.

Adami: “Antonelli 4.9 ahead.”

Hamilton: “Well now I’ve used all my tyres!”

The pursuit rolled on for Hamilton.

Hamilton: “Am I catching or not?”

Adami: “Need a 30.7 to catch in 6-7 laps.”

Hamilton: “Let me know where I’m losing.”

Adami: “Yep. Antonelli 31.7 last lap.”

And still Hamilton closed, but crucially, Leclerc was not dropping back, he was right there on Hamilton’s rear wing as Antonelli came into view.

Hamilton: “Gap ahead?”

Adami: “2.8. Tight.”

Now, Leclerc was growing frustrated behind Hamilton, triggering Ferrari to order a reversal of the swap.

Adami: “We’re gonna swap the cars in T17.”

Hamilton: “So you don’t think I can catch up or what??”

Adami: “Yes.”

The problem was, Ferrari told Leclerc of this plan before they informed Hamilton, and did so too late, meaning it was on the next lap that Hamilton followed the order.

As Leclerc pressed on, Hamilton came under pressure from the driver he replaced at Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, now driving what was a competitive Williams in Miami.

That led to one final, sassy message from Hamilton.

Adami: “Sainz 1.4 behind.

Hamilton: “You want me to let him past as well?”

Sainz did give it a go at demoting Hamilton a further position, his effort resulting in contact as he sent a lunge down the inside on the final lap into Turn 17, hitting Hamilton who was able to keep the Ferrari under control, power out, and cross the line P8.

A “good effort out there, good job” verdict from Adami received no response from Hamilton.

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