Leclerc: No ‘bad feelings’ with Hamilton despite Miami strategy clash

Charles Leclerc insists he has “no bad feelings” with Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton following a contentious Miami Grand Prix that saw the pair twice swap positions amid tensions on the team radio and a controversial strategy call from the Scuderia’s pit wall.

The race, in which Leclerc and Hamilton finished seventh and eight respectively, was marked by frustration from both drivers.

Hamilton, running on the medium tyre, grew impatient as he was kept behind Leclerc, who was managing his pace on the hard compound. The seven-time world champion repeatedly called on Ferrari to allow him past to challenge the cars ahead, but the team delayed giving such an order.

When Hamilton was eventually allowed through, he failed to catch Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli in sixth place. Ferrari then reversed the order again later in the race, with Leclerc regaining position.

Despite the back-and-forth drawing a lot of scrutiny, Leclerc moved quickly after the race to defuse speculation of any rift between the teammates, emphasizing that the team needed to handle such scenarios better going forward.

“No Bad Feelings” With Hamilton

“I knew Lewis was on a medium, so if anything he would struggle a bit more to go to the end than me, so we had to take care of tyres,” commented the Monegasque.

“But I understand as well that he wanted to try and do something different, so I appreciate that.

“I mean I would have done the same thing if I was him, trying to be a bit more aggressive with the medium tyres, so there's no bad feelings with Lewis, not at all.

“We need to do better, that's for sure. Today was not ideal and was far from maximising our potential, but we've got to regroup as a team and be better.”

Despite acknowledging Hamilton’s point of view, Leclerc hinted at some internal miscommunication and lack of preparation for such a situation, suggesting Ferrari’s decision-making in the moment left him vulnerable.

“I just think we maybe should have discussed a little bit more before doing the swap because obviously you are trying to go to the end with those tyres, so I'm trying to do a good job with my tyres and then everything is tricky, and I did not expect Carlos [Sainz] to be so close.

“All of this made the situation a bit trickier, but again I think there's plenty for us to look at.

“As I said, we need to do a step, and we need to be robust enough that whenever we find ourselves in those situations we do better.”

Frustration Behind the Wheel

Leclerc was also heard over the team radio expressing frustration about tyre wear after getting caught in Hamilton’s dirty air. While some interpreted his messages as confrontational, the Monegasque driver downplayed their significance post-race, pointing instead to the general frustration of racing in the midfield.

“There is the frustration already that I was fighting for P8 at the time and I was not making any gains,” he added.

“I was really struggling with the car, so there's the frustration of that and then all the rest, it all adds up. The radio is not always the real picture.

“I was obviously focusing on my race, on my tyres, I was trying to really keep them because I had already the first lap fighting with Carlos with the new tyres and that's not really what I wanted, so then I had to take care of my tyres and that was it.”

Looking back on the team’s overall performance, Leclerc concluded that there wasn’t much more they could have achieved even with a flawless strategy.

“I think we will be quite aligned on the fact that today wasn't the Sunday we wanted and even though the pace is not there, I don't think there was any miracles.

“If everything had gone perfectly maybe we would have finished in front of Kimi, but that's it.”

Despite the heat of the moment tensions, Leclerc’s post-race comments reflect a desire to move on and learn from the experience, with his focus squarely on helping Ferrari improve its execution in high-pressure situations.

Read also:

• Hamilton defensive after team radio tirade: 'It was more sarcastic than anything'

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