Hamilton held talks with Ferrari after Austria strategy dispute

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he’s held frank discussions with his Ferrari engineers following last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, as the seven-time world champion seeks a more aggressive strategic approach in his first season with the Scuderia.

The 40-year-old delivered one of his best results yet in red with a strong fourth-place finish in Spielberg – matching his season-best – but called into question Ferrari’s decision to mirror teammate Charles Leclerc’s race strategy in last Sunday’s race.

A call to pit for a second time was initially disputed by Hamilton who told his race engineer Riccardo Adami: “I don’t want to stop.”

Speaking to reporters ahead of his highly anticipated home race at Silverstone this weekend, Hamilton confirmed that the issue had been revisited with the team.

“Yes. Even just probably an hour ago I brought it up,” Hamilton said on Thursday.

“I mentioned it after the race and then we’ve had time to reflect on it. I think the team’s view was to make sure they secured third and fourth, which is totally fine.

“But I said I’m not here to start fourth and finish fourth. I’m racing for every little bit that we can gain.”

Addressing the Strategy Disconnect

Hamilton highlighted that both he and Leclerc followed identical medium – hard – medium strategies, a conservative approach he believes lacked tactical creativity.

“In that scenario they had us exactly on the same strategy. I think we both went medium, hard, medium," explained the Briton.

"I would have done medium, medium, hard so at least I was offset at the end, as I never want to do the same thing as my teammate, ever.”

Hamilton believes Ferrari could have taken more chances, especially given the race context.

“In that last stint for example, we were not under pressure from the cars behind. They said ‘you would have been overtaken by Charles at the end’. I said ‘well, there could have been a Safety Car’ and at that point there was no risk in taking a gamble.

“I said I don’t want to get to a point where I’m ignoring you, so what we’re doing is working on our communication. We’re still getting to know each other and how we like to operate and that’s understood.”

Eyes on Silverstone, Hoping and Praying

This weekend marks Hamilton’s first British Grand Prix with Ferrari, and he returns to Silverstone with hopes of rekindling the magic that brought him a record ninth victory on home soil last year – ending a two-and-a-half-year winless drought.

Despite a challenging 2025 season in which he has yet to finish on the podium, Hamilton remains optimistic that Silverstone’s signature unpredictability could open doors.

• Read also: Ferrari’s d’Ambrosio opens up on Hamilton’s radio frustrations

“I’m hoping and praying, yes. There’s always magic at Silverstone,” he said.

“I don’t really have to hope for that in the sense that the crowd is incredible. It’s a very, very special place and it always provides a special race, one way or another.

“But I’m hoping that weather, all sorts of things can help us because we’re naturally not as quick as McLaren. If it just stays dry then they should walk the race.

“I don’t really look at those stats and things so it’s not something that affects me, or that I think about. Of course we’re at Silverstone. It would be a great place to change that, and that’s what we’re working towards.”

As Ferrari continues its learning curve with its newest star, Hamilton’s message is clear: fourth place isn’t enough, especially not on home soil.

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