Schumacher’s Analysis of Hamilton-Ferrari’s Issues at Miami
May 9 – Ralf Schumacher has slammed seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton’s behaviour during and after the recent Miami GP.
As he struggles to adapt to Ferrari after years at Mercedes, Hamilton’s tone on the radio last Sunday was a bit harsh.
He accused the pitwall of taking “a tea break” while deciding whether to let him past Charles Leclerc, and slammed his engineer Riccardo Adami for talking to him in a braking zone.
And when Hamilton was ordered to move aside to allow his teammate Leclerc to re-pass him, and told that the car behind was now Carlos Sainz, the 40-year-old said sarcastically: “Do you want me to let him pass too?”
Former F1 driver Schumacher admits he was very unimpressed.
“Boo-hoo Hamilton, that was a bit much,” the German, brother of Ferrari’s most successful-ever driver Michael, told Sky Deutschland.
“If you want to go past (Leclerc), that’s one thing – he was faster at the time. But then to not give it back without a fight?
“And then afterwards, I wouldn’t act as if I meant it sarcastically. Instead, he should have just said sorry. With his experience and his age, that really shouldn’t have happened. He could have acted a bit more cleverly.
“That would have suited him better,” Schumacher charged.
After all the pre-season hype and excitement about the new Hamilton-Ferrari partnership, Schumacher thinks the Briton is now handling the current situation badly.
“The people at Ferrari have gotten to know Hamilton internally a bit now,” he said. “And such behaviour naturally strains the relationship.
“This will stick, and he has to recognise that himself. His strong words on the radio, his demands, they don’t really match his performance at the moment. I don’t care how many times he’s been world champion.
“He was closer to Leclerc in Miami, but I think he should still keep his
approach a bit calmer at the moment.”
Leclerc also expressed his discomfort with the Hamilton incidents in Miami as well as the car’s general lack of performance, but chose his words both on the radio and with the media more measured.
“Leclerc was very frustrated in Miami too,” Schumacher notes. “I expect the pressure to be very high at Imola – in Italy. Ferrari is also going there with an update, and it has to work.
“Team boss Fred Vasseur is already under a lot of pressure.”
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