Lewis Hamilton apologized to Ferrari teammate Charles Leclair after failing to score eighth place on the final lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Ferrari drivers have run with different strategies that saw Leclair on hard tires and saw Hamilton in fresh media, allowing Monegascu to pass his teammates at the end of Sunday’s race at Baku.
Hamilton took a train led by Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls, but the Ferrari pair was unable to advance with their P8 and P9 home in an overwhelming show from the Italian team.
A series of radio messages that were not aired at the time revealed that if Hamilton could make progress, there was a swap in the understanding that Hamilton would pass the position to Leclair.
Hamilton was instructed to let Leclair go past on the final lap, but the seven-time world champion failed to do so despite a massive slowdown on the main straight, as he crossed the line just 0.464 seconds ahead.
Briton, 40, admitted that he misjudged his attempt to return the place to Leclair, along with Racing Bulls’ Isaac Hajar just behind Ferraris.
“I was faster, but Charles was graceful to let go of me. Finally, I got the message really late and I was zoned into the car in front of me.
“Maybe I was still hopeful. Basically, I lifted up on the straight and actually put on the brakes, but I missed it like a quarter, so that was just a misunderstanding for me. So I’ll apologise to Charles.
Leclerc suggests that Ferrari rules were not respected
Lewis Hamilton took first place ahead of Charles Leclerc
Leclerc ultimately downplayed the situation, but he questioned whether Hamilton respected the Ferrari rules.
“To be honest, I’m not going to be a big topic for the P8 or P9. I really don’t care,” Leclerc told Sky Sports F1.
“Obviously, these are the general rules of how we want to work whenever there is a swap. That didn’t happen.
“I’m not so happy being a P8, so I don’t care.”
Leclerc later added: “So there are rules that we know we have to work together.
“But again, p8-p9, p9-p8, that’s obviously, if you’re fighting for a sexier position, then I hope that’s true.
Fred Vasser, principal of the Ferrari team, said, “I think the situation was clear to us. Lewis had the advantages of tires, and we asked Charles to try to overtake Zonodah and Lawson.
“Charles had problems with (energy) recovery and we weren’t on top in the engine. I think this was the best option for making this move.”