Formula 1: Leclerc replied to Hamilton after his complaint at the Miami GP

The Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix exposed internal tensions at the Ferrari team, following a controversial position swap between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton that caused discontent both on and off the track.

The incident occurred when Hamilton, with better pace thanks to medium tires, requested via radio that Leclerc give up his position to try to pressure Kimi Antonelli, a Mercedes driver. The strategy, however, provoked complaints and displays of frustration from both drivers toward the team.

During the race, Hamilton hinted at his displeasure with sarcastic comments directed at his engineer Riccardo Adami, telling him: "Have a tea".

Later, when he was ordered to give the position back to Leclerc due to the imminent threat of Carlos Sainz, the Briton replied with irony: "Do you want me to let him pass too?".

He also recalled a very similar incident at the Chinese GP, where he had given way to Leclerc, and stated that what happened in Miami "is not teamwork".

Charles Leclerc also expressed his dissatisfaction with Ferrari's strategic decisions. "We've lost a lot of time fighting each other. What's the goal? To fight each other or to fight against others? We'll discuss it internally", the Monegasque declared after the race. Although he was careful with his words, he made his discontent clear: "We have to do better. It's not that we have to try to do better, it's that we have to do better".

Leclerc regretted not being able to attack Antonelli in the final laps, after suffering excessive degradation of the hard tires while closely following his teammate. "It's a real shame, seeing how close we were to Antonelli", he commented.

The Ferrari driver also questioned the lack of communication among team members: "I just think maybe we should have talked about it a bit more before making the change. I'm trying to get to the end with those tires, and then everything is complicated".

On the other hand, he insisted on the need for the team to evolve in strategic decision-making: "I think there's a lot to analyze. We must move forward and be firm enough so that, when we find ourselves in these situations, we do better".

Meanwhile, Hamilton downplayed what happened and acknowledged that his reactions were conditioned by the tension of the moment. "I could have said much worse things. You hear some of the things other people have said in the past. Some were sarcasm. You have to understand, we're under enormous pressure", he told Sky Sports.

He also recounted that Fred Vasseur, Ferrari team principal, visited him in his room after the race: "I put my hand on his shoulder and said: 'Dude, calm down, don't be so sensitive'".

Vasseur, meanwhile, defended the strategy adopted and explained that the team's policy was to assess whether the driver behind really had better pace or was just benefiting from DRS.

"The issue is not to swap positions and then swap them back if you don't catch the driver ahead. It was our responsibility as a team and we made that decision", he assured.

He also justified the timing of the move: "You can always argue it would have been better to do it half a lap earlier or later, but honestly, we did the job".

Finally, Leclerc finished seventh and Hamilton eighth, both even surpassed by Alex Albon, former teammate of Franco Colapinto at Williams. Ferrari will seek revenge on May 18, at the Imola Grand Prix.