Lewis Hamilton was involved in a terse exchange with his temporary race engineer Carlo Santi during the closing stages of the Australian Grand Prix, after Ferrari deployed a controversial race strategy which may have cost the Briton a spot on the podium.
The seven-time world champion endured a torrid opening season at the Scuderia and will be hopeful of a return to the podium in his second in light of major changes to the cars across the grid after key regulation changes.
Hamilton finished fourth in Melbourne but had hopes of attaining a higher position when he barked ‘leave it to me’ to Santi on the radio in the closing stages of the contest.
Earlier in the race, the 41-year-old had voiced his concern that neither he nor his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who finished third, had pitted following a virtual safety car after Isack Hadjar’s retirement.
Most of the grid decided to exchange their tyres for fresh ones, with eventual race-winner George Russell doing so and coming out only 10 seconds behind Hamilton.
‘At least one of us should have come in,’ Hamilton questioned as the opportunity passed the cars by.
Lewis Hamilton has seemingly failed to find a strong bond with a Ferrari race engineer since joining the Italian team last year
Hamilton may have hoped to get his relationship with Santi off on a smoother note following the departure of last year’s race engineer Riccardo Adami, with whom the driver had a more strained relationship.
The pair were caught squabbling over team radio on a number of occasions, with Hamilton snapping ‘have a cup of tea while you’re at it’ in a high-profile show of disdain for dithering over orders at the Miami Grand Prix.
Hamilton enjoyed a deeply successful and rewarding relationship with his former Mercedes race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, during his decorated years at the constructor.
But Bonnington was handed a new contract, plus promotion, in 2024 as Hamilton prepared for his departure.
The engineer is now working contentedly with the Brackley-based team’s rookie of last year, Kimi Antonelli, who placed second Down Under.
Despite Ferrari’s tactical mis-step, Hamilton was in high spirits after the race, and stressed his belief that he could have claimed an opening podium under different circumstances.
‘I feel great. I feel like I could have kept going – I wish the race was longer!’ Hamilton said. ‘Another five laps or so, I think I would have got third.
‘There’s lots and lots of positives to take from today and the car’s feeling great. It was actually a really fun race.’
