Even before his “tea break” criticism in Miami, Lewis Hamilton wasn’t happy with the pace of his Ferrari nor Riccardo Adami’s communication.

Hamilton made headlines at the Miami Grand Prix when he laid into Adami and the Ferrari strategists for what he perceived to be their tardiness in making the call to swap position with Charles Leclerc.

‘Tea break’ jibe wasn’t Hamilton’s first complaint in Miami

That he was later told to swap back, having failed to catch Kimi Antonelli, only added to his apparent annoyance.

But it seems the Briton was already frustrated long before that, as he struggled to recover from his 12th place on the starting grid.

Slow to work his way through the field as he overtook Isack Hadjar to knock on the door of the top 10 in 11th place, Hamilton then came out on top in a thrilling fight with Esteban Ocon before pit stops began to play out.

The Briton, though, was not happy with either the pace of his SF-25 or Adami’s communications but was one of the winners when the Virtual Safety Car came out for Oliver Bearman’s stricken Haas and progressed to eighth place.

That’s when he found himself behind Charles Leclerc, leading to that tense “tea break” exchange with Adami.

But it wasn’t the first time on Sunday that he voiced his displeasure with his race engineer’s comments over the radio.

Lewis Hamilton’s initial radio messages to Ferrari

Hamilton: So hot here, mate. Just leave me to it now.
Adami: Understood.

Adami: Soft 9 suggested. Soft 9.
Hamilton: Stop taking to me while I’m in fricking battle man, jeez.
Hamilton: I’m in the braking zone you’re talking to me.
Adami: We need to recharge to attack.

Hamilton: God, so slow in the straights man. It’s so draggy.

Hamilton: How is this pace? I can’t really go any quicker.
Adami: Now it’s 32.6, and Charles 32.7.
Hamilton: My tyres are pretty poor. In general, a little bit of understeer here, but I don’t know what to say.

Hamilton: Everyone ahead stopped right?
Adami: Yep. Everyone ahead on hard. Russell on medium.
Hamilton: How long to go? Jesus Christ. We’re so slow today.
Adami: 25 laps to go when you cross the line.

Hamilton finished the Grand Prix in eighth place, one position behind Leclerc.

Hamilton was quizzed about his radio comments in his post-race briefing with the media, the Briton insisting it wasn’t out of anger but the need to get decisive information and calls from the Ferrari pit wall.

“But it wasn’t even anger,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com. “It wasn’t even… It wasn’t like effing and blinding or anything like that.

“It was like come on, make the decision. You’re sitting on the chair, you’ve got the stuff in front of you, make the decision quick.

“That’s how I was, I was me, we’re in a panic, we’re trying to keep the car on the track. We’re computing things fast.”

The seven-time World Champion made it clear that he won’t apologise for his radio communications as they prove he still wants to win.

“I mean, it was all PG at least, right? [laughs]” he continued. “For sure, I don’t know what you’re going to write, or whether I was disrespectful or whatever, I honestly don’t feel I was.

“I was like, ‘come on guys, I want to win’. I’ve still got my fire in my belly. I could feel a bit of it really coming up there. I’m not going to apologise for being a fighter. I’m not going to apologise for still wanting it. I know everyone in the team does too.

“And I truly believe that when we fix some of the problems that we have with the car, we’ll be back in the fight with the Mercedes, with the Red Bulls. It just can’t come quick enough.

“We’ll try something different in the next race. We’ll keep working on the processes. I look forward to a time when maybe I can fight for a podium, that would be nice.”

Hamilton finished the Grand Prix in eighth place and left Miami having scored 10 points in total. He, however, remains P7 in the Drivers’ standings where he trails Oscar Piastri by 90 points.

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