Lewis Hamilton has addressed the sharp radio exchanges that drew attention during the Miami Grand Prix.
After questioning Ferrari’s indecision over team orders while battling teammate Charles Leclerc, Hamilton stood firm, calling his remarks “sarcasm” and a reflection of his enduring competitive fire. The Briton, who finished eighth, said he won’t apologise for being vocal in the heat of the moment, saying “I’ve still got the fire in my belly”.
Not for the first time this season, Hamilton’s radio communications with Adami have made headlines as the Briton gave voice his frustrations as he sat behind his team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton felt that he was faster than the Monegasque driver and that Ferrari were dithering in swapping positions, unlike in China when he was the one who made the call to let Leclerc through.
It led to several sarcastic comments from the Briton’s side, as he told Adami to take a “tea break” before, having swapped with Leclerc but then swapped back, asking if Adami also wanted him to let Carlos Sainz through.
Leclerc and Hamilton swapped positions but with Hamlton unable to chase down Antonelli, he was told to give the position back to Leclerc.
Once again behind Leclerc, Hamilton had Sainz on his rear wing.
The radio messages raised eyebrows in the paddock as Hamilton’s cutting comments to Adami are not in keeping with how he would communicate with his long-time Mercedes race engineer Peter Bonnington.
Put to him that his comments came across as ‘quite fiesty’ and that no one ‘recalled’ him speaking to Bono like that, he told the media, including PlanetF1.com: “My ones? What my ones? Yeah, like make a decision, let’s go.”
Pressed on his ‘tea break’ jab, he replied: “He was kind of like, ‘we’ll get back to you’. Like, ‘well, okay’.”
He added: “I definitely have said that to Shovlin or Bono once before.”
Asked if his comments were a heat-of-the-moment frustration, he said: “But it wasn’t even anger. 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.”
However, it did see Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur pay him a visit after the race.
Hamilton was quick to shut down any comment the Frenchman may have made as he insists it was “sarcasm” more than anything else.
“Fred came to my room,” Hamilton revealed. “I just put my hand on his shoulder and was like, ‘dude, calm down, don’t be so sensitive’.
“I could have said way worse things on the radio. You hear some of the things others have said in the past, some of it was sarcasm.
“Look, you’ve got to understand we’re under a huge amount of pressure within the car. You’re never going to get the most peaceful messages coming through in the heat of the battle. And yeah, it was fine. We said we’ll take it.”
He reiterated that to Sky F1, telling the broadcaster: “In that moment, for sure, I was like, ‘come on, like, let’s make a concise, let’s make a decision really quick, let’s not waste time’.
“Sure people didn’t like certain comments, but I mean you got to understand it’s frustrating. People say way worse things than I say, so it was more sarcastic than anything.
“I’m not frustrated now, we’ll work internally, we’ll have discussions and we’ll keep pushing.”
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.
