Lewis Hamilton offered to let Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc past during the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday. Hamilton lacked speed and thought it was in his team’s best interests if they swapped.
The seven-time world champion had looked like the quicker Ferrari driver in Shanghai. He converted pole position in the Sprint to secure his first victory in their colours, and then beat Leclerc in Grand Prix qualifying too.
The duo made contact at the start, with Leclerc losing a front-wing endplate after hitting the back of the sister car. Despite the loss of downforce, he seemed to have a pace advantage, hovering within DRS range.
Hamilton’s Chinese Grand Prix radio transcript shows that, on lap 16, he proactively offered to ‘let Charles go’. He admitted he was ‘struggling’, and he eventually allowed Leclerc through at turn one.
F1 made a broadcast mistake, playing Ferrari’s instructions rather than Hamilton’s initial message. This angered team principal Fred Vasseur, though both of his drivers were later disqualified for separate technical breaches.
Lewis Hamilton also offered to let George Russell through at Mercedes last season
It’s highly unusual for a driver to initiate team orders. But Hamilton has now done it twice within the last year.
He outqualified Mercedes partner George Russell for the Japanese GP, but lacked pace in the early stages of the race amid car balance issues. Russell was following close behind.
“Mate George is a lot quicker than me,” he told Peter Bonnington over the radio. “Got too much understeer.”
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He then asked: “Need to let George by?”
Hamilton arguably deserves credit for putting the collective interest first. The hope on Sunday was that Leclerc could hunt down Russell and earn Ferrari’s first Grand Prix podium of the season.
In the end, they weren’t quick enough, nor were they compliant with the regulations. And some will inevitably contend that their new signing displayed a lack of ruthlessness.
‘This is Lewis Hamilton’ – Peter Windsor despairs at Ferrari’s Chinese Grand Prix
Reviewing the race, Peter Windsor said Hamilton’s radio ‘broke his heart’. He’s deeply concerned by the change he’s seen in the veteran’s attitude.
He said: “It broke my heart, actually, to hear Lewis say ‘I haven’t got the pace of Charles, I’m going to let him past’. This is Lewis Hamilton, I just couldn’t believe it.”
Hamilton has now been disqualified from three F1 races, and the latest sanction leaves him ninth in the standings below midfield trio Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll. He’s already 35 points behind championship leader Lando Norris.
As for his race pace, Karun Chandhok says Ferrari engineers suspect Leclerc’s wing was flexing more, generating additional performance. Ultimately, the team must prioritise broadening their car’s working window so they can compete with McLaren on a more consistent basis.
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