Untelevised team radio footage from the Spanish Grand Prix has revealed how Charles Leclerc pressured Ferrari into enforcing team orders on Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton’s F1 2025 woes continued in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix as he came home a distant sixth at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

How Charles Leclerc pressured Ferrari into Lewis Hamilton team orders decision

Despite outqualifying team-mate Leclerc for only the second time this season, Hamilton suffered a torrid race.

The seven-time World Champion was instructed to swap positions with Leclerc in the early stages of the race as he struggled for pace across the first stint.

Leclerc eventually claimed his and Ferrari’s third podium finish of the season by clinching third place behind the lead McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

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Hamilton, who trailed his team-mate by 12 seconds before a late-race Safety Car bunched up the field, initially finished seventh after being passed by Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber in the closing laps.

However, he was promoted to sixth in the final classification after Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was handed a 10-second time penalty for a clash with Hamilton’s former Mercedes team-mate George Russell.

Spain was not the first time this season that Ferrari have instructed Hamilton to swap positions with Leclerc, with the seven-time World Champion also told to move aside at the second race of the season in China in March.

And untelevised footage from Barcelona has revealed how Leclerc successfully persuaded the pit wall to invert the cars in the early stages of the race.

As early as Lap 7, Leclerc was pushing Ferrari to make a decision, telling his race engineer Bryan Bozzi: “We are losing time.”

Bozzi replies: “Copy.”

Leclerc: “Hoping to go to Plan A.”

Bozzi: “Switch position yellow.”

Two laps later, on Lap 9, Leclerc reminds Ferrari that he “sacrificed” his qualifying result on Saturday in order to have more strategic flexibility for the race.

Leclerc carried out just a single run in Q3 in order to preserve a set of tyres, resulting in him being outqualified by Hamilton for only the second time this season.

The Monegasque told Ferrari in no uncertain terms that he did not elect to sacrifice his grid position in order to lose time stuck behind his team-mate on race day.

Leclerc says: “Guys, I’m sacrificing my quali to be fast in the race. It’s not to then slow us down in the race.

“So, yeah. You choose. How much faster can I go? I can only tell you if I have free air. I’m stuck to his gearbox.”

On Lap 10, the call is made to Hamilton to swap positions by his race engineer Riccardo Adami.

Adami says: “And we are swapping the cars.”

Hamilton is then seen easing off at the end of the main straight to allow Leclerc through unchallenged into Turn 1.

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After the chequered flag, Hamilton was heard telling Adami that his SF-25 was “the worst it’s even been” on race day in Barcelona.

He said: “Unbelievable, guys. There’s something wrong with this car, mate. It’s the worst it’s ever been.”

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com after the race, he said: “I have no idea why it was so bad. Worst race I’ve experienced, balance-wise.”

He later added: “It was just not a great day.

“Strategy was good, team did a great job. What do you want me to say?

“I just had a really bad day and I’ve got nothing to say.

“It was a difficult day. There’s nothing else to add to it, it was terrible.

“There’s no point explaining it. It’s not your fault, I just don’t know what else to say.”

Put him that Ferrari could find answers to his Spanish Grand Prix woes, he added: “I’m sure they won’t.

“It’s probably just me.”

Hamilton’s “shockingly bad” race drew a worried response from Nico Rosberg, his former Mercedes team-mate and the 2016 World Champion, who admitted that the seven-time World Champion is in “a very dark situation.”

Appearing in his capacity as a Sky F1 pundit in Spain, Rosberg said: “It’s hard to watch.

“Sunday was a horrible day for him because he was just slow out there, which is very unusual.

“Yes, sometimes he’s off in qualifying, but in races he’s usually really awesome and the race was shockingly bad.

“He doesn’t have answers either.

“Was there damage on the floor? These floors are so sensitive and there can always be a bit there and you lose a lot of time.

“When you don’t have any answers, it’s really tough as a driver. Then you see your team-mate race their way to third place on the podium.

“In light of the whole season he’s had so far, it’s a very dark situation.”

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