 "After Lewis Hamilton asks Ferrari have 'tea break,' boss Frederic Vasseur defends drivers swaps at Miami Grand Prix")
Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur believes the team “did a good hob” in handling the swaps between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc during the Miami Grand Prix despite both drivers expressing their displeasure.
Hamilton was asked by Ferrari to overtake teammate Leclerc during the middle of the race in an attempt to catch Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli for sixth spot, but it took a while for the swap to happen.
Hamilton was frustrated as Leclerc took a few laps before giving a pass, but the Briton failed to catch Antonelli on his medium tyres.
Hamilton later in the race gave Leclerc a pass, however, he accompanied that move with sarcastic comments and also asked if he should let the Williams driver Carlos Sainz also go ahead. Eventually, Leclerc and Hamilton finished seventh and eighth, respectively.
Ferrari boss defends driver swaps at Miami GP
While defending the team strategy and execution, Vasseur told Sky Sports F1 that while Hamilton failed to take over Antonelli, the planning was good.
“I can understand the frustration of the guys in the cars but in the end it was well executed because Lewis was behind Charles, with a softer compound, we let him go and as per our internal rules in the team, we swapped back at the end.
“We gave the chance to Lewis to go in front of Charles because it was impossible to overtake between them if we don’t let them go and it was an opportunity for Lewis to catch Antonelli. I think we did a good job.”
Among one of the digs that Hamilton took on his Ferrari during the radio chat amid the race was him reminding them of the Chinese Grand Prix, where he gave a pass to Leclerc and said, “have a tea break while you’re at it, come on!”
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More Shorts“I had a discussion with Lewis and I can perfectly understand the frustration. They are champions, they want to win races,” said Vasseur.
“We are asking them to let their team-mate go. It’s not easy, it’s never easy. We took the responsibility to do it because it’s the policy of the team.
“We are racing for Ferrari first. Honestly, I think as a team we did a good job. Again, we can argue that it would have been better to do it half a lap before or half a lap later.
“But when you are in the pit wall you have to understand if the car is behind is faster because of DRS or not. It’s not an easy call. It’s always much easier to do it two hours later.
“We asked them to do it. They did it. Now the frustration when you are in the car, I can perfectly understand this. We had a discussion and it was much more relaxed.”
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