Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disappointingly slow for Ferrari at the Miami Grand Prix.
Their downfall has been dramatic over the winter, sliding from a close second in the constructors’ championship to a distant fourth within months.
Hamilton’s move from Mercedes doesn’t appear to have been a good decision, and expectations of fighting for any titles may have been thrown out the window after another poor race at the Miami Grand Prix.
It says a lot that even Leclerc, who has been with Ferrari for six years, cannot challenge for the top five. He managed to finish nearly 10 seconds behind Williams’ Alex Albon too.
The pressure may be getting to the team, with Hamilton frustrated by Ferrari in Miami and looking lost behind the wheel at times.
Damon Hill thinks Hamilton needs to drop a habit and adjust his driving style under braking to find more speed. Otherwise, his stint in Italy could end painfully.
READ MORE: Damon Hill shares why Lewis Hamilton will be ‘extremely upset’ despite Ferrari driver’s Miami Sprint podium
Martin Brundle left stunned after Ferrari waited to swap Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc
With the Ferrari drivers battling the Williams of Carlos Sainz late in Miami, they faced a tough decision in their pursuit of Kimi Antonelli in sixth place ahead.
With Hamilton on softer tyres, he wanted to be let by his teammate to make use of his rubber. However, they didn’t let him go for a few laps. It’s a move which confused Hamilton over the radio.
“This is not good teamwork, that’s all I’m going to say,” he said.
Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle was equally mystified by the situation and felt that the decision to switch drivers came too late.
“Leclerc will say ‘Look, I’m pacing myself and he’s staying with me because he’s in my DRS, he’s bound to be all over the back of me.’ It seemed to me that Ferrari needed to do this three or four laps ago,” he said.
Eventually, Leclerc was allowed back ahead and pulled away by the end of the race. Sainz made an ambitious attempt on Hamilton on the final lap, which failed.
READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton saved Ferrari with genius call in unheard Miami Grand Prix radio message
David Croft believes Lewis Hamilton would be ‘fed up’ with Ferrari at the Miami Grand Prix
Hamilton criticised a Ferrari radio message yet again in Miami, as he struggles to get up to speed with new engineer Riccardo Adami.
David Croft too was struggling to see the method behind Ferrari’s thinking, and believes that the seven-time champion may have been fed up.
“By keeping the DRS to Charles, it’s keeping his lap time and Sainz is going to struggle to get closer,” he said.
“But, that seems like they’ve just made their mind up here that you’re going to stay behind your teammate, Lewis, because he’s going to help you out to that extent.
“If I was Lewis Hamilton, I would just be a little fed up at the situation he has now found himself in.”
