Lewis Hamilton misjudges a Ferrari team order and finishes ahead of Charles Leclerc in Azerbaijan: Intentional or just a mistake?
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix ended with an unpleasant incident for Ferrari: Lewis Hamilton did not comply with team orders as requested and kept Charles Leclerc behind him until the finish line.
“I don’t care, it’s about eighth place—so it’s okay, he can enjoy that eighth place,” a visibly frustrated Leclerc radioed to the pits after the race. His words were reminiscent of the legendary scene from the British TV show Come Dine With Me, in which an unsuccessful contestant gave free rein to his anger: “You won, Jane. Enjoy the money. I hope it makes you happy.”
Leclerc’s handicap and Hamilton’s chance
Leclerc had started the race ahead of Hamilton, despite a crash in qualifying. But a problem with the energy recovery of his hybrid system regularly robbed him of full power on the long start-finish straight. Added to this was an early pit stop on lap 19, with which he wanted to protect himself against a possible undercut by Lando Norris – a decision that committed him to a long second stint on hard tires. When Hamilton stopped on lap 36, he had a clear tire advantage. He quickly closed in on Leclerc. The Monegasque driver appeared increasingly tense, continuously asking his engineer Bryan Bozzi for Hamilton’s lap times and finally accepting the instruction to let his teammate pass on lap 42. Hamilton was then supposed to put pressure on Norris, Tsunoda, and Lawson, but was unable to make any significant progress. So when Ferrari asked him to swap places again on the final laps, Hamilton responded—but only slowed down and braked slightly just before the finish line. It was too late to give Leclerc back his position.
Vasseur: No misunderstanding
“Confusion? No,” team boss Frédéric Vasseur clarified afterwards. “The situation was clear. Lewis had the tire advantage, Charles had problems with energy recovery, and we knew we weren’t the best on the straights anyway. So the best option was to let Lewis pass. We asked for the position swap back at the end, and it looks like Lewis misjudged the start and finish line.”
Hamilton himself speaks of a lapse in concentration: “I was so focused on Norris that I missed the moment. I did lift and brake on the straight, but four tenths too late. It was a misjudgment, and I apologize to Charles.”
Missed opportunities already on Saturday
What makes the situation even more bitter is that Ferrari believes it had the pace for pole position. But in the decisive part of qualifying, a lot went wrong: Hamilton failed to exploit the potential of the difficult C6 soft tires, while Leclerc touched the wall in Q3.
With starting positions ten and twelve, it was clear that it would be a tough afternoon. With the field closer together in 2025 due to technical convergence and the optimized efficiency of the rear wings reducing the effect of DRS, overtaking was difficult even with fresh tires. Drivers in the midfield were stuck in traffic, while their rivals at the front were able to manage their tires better in the cleaner airflow. “The pace was okay,” explains Vasseur. “Charles had the engine problem, which didn’t cost him five tenths per lap, but enough to get stuck in traffic. And there, you not only lose two tenths, but also the delta to the car in front. That was decisive for Charles. In the end, however, our main problem was not Sunday, but qualifying. We had a car in practice that could fight for first place, but we started the race in P10 and P12.”