Karun Chandhok has received a backlash from Lewis Hamilton’s supporters after he criticised the Ferrari driver at last weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Hamilton produced arguably his poorest showing since he joined the Maranello outfit at the start of the year.
Hamilton was over half a second slower than Charles Leclerc in qualifying, ending up three places behind (P4 vs P7). Damningly, emergency 2024 debutant Oliver Bearman got closer to Leclerc at the same event.
And in the race, Hamilton finished more than 30 seconds behind Leclerc on pure pace. It’s the first time that’s happened (vs a teammate) since the 2017 Russian GP.
The seven-time world champion initially got a good start, overtaking Carlos Sainz for sixth. But while he briefly held up Lando Norris – who had started 10th after a Q3 crash – he lost the battle and couldn’t make an impression thereafter.
Karun Chandhok receives backlash from Lewis Hamilton fans over ‘oops’ remark
Speaking on Sky Sports’ social media channels after the race, Chandhok was asked to pick his ‘oops’ of the weekend. He felt Hamilton was the standout choice, pointing to the chasmic deficit to his teammate on both Saturday and Sunday.
His colleague Martin Brundle suggested Hamilton was going in the wrong direction and his Jeddah performance strengthened that theory. He had at least shown signs of life during the second stint in Bahrain a week earlier.
“Oops of the weekend?” Chandhok said. I’m going to have to say Lewis Hamilton.
“He looked a long way off Charles Leclerc all weekend long, six-tenths in qualifying, 31 seconds in a 50-lap race, so again about six-tenths a lap – a big margin for Lewis to be behind Charles this weekend. He’s going to have to dig deep to improve.”
On the F1 Show a few days later, Chandhok revealed that Hamilton’s fans – often known as ‘Team LH’ – were unhappy with his ‘oops’ remark. They have hit back against the former Lotus driver online.
He said: “They’re all very upset with me this week because I said he was the ‘oops’ of the weekend on our Sky social media channels. I’m getting a lot of upset Team LH people.”
Ferrari made their biggest mistake even before Lewis Hamilton turned a wheel
According to one journalist, Hamilton will be coming under internal pressure at Ferrari. The mood has shifted dramatically after the extraordinary excitement over the winter.
Team principal Fred Vasseur has consistently, at times passionately, defended Hamilton. He’s determined to make the move work, but the driver himself appeared to write off the rest of 2025 after Sunday’s race.
Hamilton may be more measured when he faces the media in Miami next weekend. But even if he gets within a couple of tenths Leclerc consistently, it may not be enough to score podiums.
Indeed, Hamilton should be demanding answers from Ferrari, who took a needless risk with their winter overhaul. Rather than leapfrogging McLaren, they’ve made their car slower and more difficult to drive.
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