Lewis Hamilton’s Miami Grand Prix radio messages prove what ‘no one’ at Ferrari ‘dares’ do, Fred Vasseur must act

Christian Danner feels Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur must take immediate action on what Lewis Hamilton’s Miami Grand Prix radio messages proved about team orders.

The Briton and teammate Charles Leclerc were often on the Scuderia’s radio during Sunday’s event at Hard Rock Stadium to voice their issues with how Ferrari handled using team orders in the Miami GP. It was one of the main storylines besides Oscar Piastri winning for McLaren.

Ferrari waited almost four laps after Hamilton first asked to be let past Leclerc before giving the Monegasque the order to move over. The Briton initially pulled up behind his teammate at the end of Lap 33 when he followed Leclerc through whilst overtaking Carlos Sainz for P7.

The Scuderia’s hesitancy increasingly incensed Hamilton and saw the seven-time champion groan, ‘[Do] you want me to just sit here the whole race?’ His race engineer Riccardo Adami initially replied, ‘I’ll come back to you’, before telling Hamilton to sit in DRS range to Leclerc.

Lewis Hamilton’s Miami GP team order radio messages showed ‘no one’ at Ferrari ‘dares’ to make big decisions

Hamilton would not hide his disappointment at Ferrari’s handling of their team orders in the Miami GP and stated, ‘This is not good teamwork’. He also told Adami to, ‘Have a tea break’, before the Scuderia finally asked Leclerc to let him go ahead at Turn 17 at the end of L38/57.

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The delay in Ferrari’s request even showed Danner that ‘no one’ in the team ‘dares’ to make big decisions in the fear they are wrong. So, the ex-Arrows F1 driver feels team boss Vasseur must now make the necessary changes to get everyone at Ferrari working as a unified team.

“Ferrari’s performance this weekend couldn’t keep up with the other top teams,” Danner has told sport.de. “Lewis Hamilton’s third place in Saturday’s Sprint was largely due to fortunate circumstances. On Sunday, Williams even finished ahead of the Italians.

“But not only is the car too slow, the radio messages reveal a lack of will to make decisions, not to mention the negative mood. Apparently, no one dares to make a decision, based on the motto, ‘It might be the wrong thing’.

“Under these circumstances, however, it’s impossible to turn the ship around and get it back on course. The team leadership is now called upon to bring order back to the Grande Casino so that everyone is pulling together and in the same direction.”

Ferrari’s team order ordeal potentially cost Lewis Hamilton P6 in the Miami GP to Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Niki Lauda famously used the phrase ‘Grande Casino’ to describe the chaotic atmosphere at Ferrari over the Austrian’s time at the Maranello team from 1974-1977. In that period, he still won the F1 drivers’ championship in 1975 and in 1977, whilst also finishing second in 1978.

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Leclerc and Hamilton are miles from winning their first and eighth drivers’ championships in 2025, with the Ferrari drivers already trailing McLaren rival Piastri by 78 and 90 points after just the first six rounds of the 2025 F1 season. Hamilton is also just seventh in the standings.

Had Ferrari issued team orders earlier and ordered Leclerc to let Hamilton through when his medium tyres were still in an optimal condition, the Briton might have caught Mercedes ace Andrea Kimi Antonelli for P6. Instead, the Italian did not come under pressure for the place.

Ferrari even enraged Hamilton, again, when asking him to let Leclerc back through on L53 as the Monegasque’s pace on his hard tyres was by then stronger. When the Scuderia then told Hamilton his gap to Sainz behind was 1.4s, he noted: “You want me to let him past, as well?”