Lewis Hamilton has urged Ferrari to be more like Mercedes with its efficiency after growing frustrated by a lack of team orders during the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver finished fourth in an action-packed contest at Zandvoort on Sunday, with his mid-race battle with stablemate Charles Leclerc arguably being Hamilton’s defining period.
Hamilton had just overtaken McLaren’s Oscar Piastri for fifth on lap 35 and was right behind a much slower Leclerc, so was therefore angling for team orders but they did not arrive.
“Great way of wasting time guys, good job,” complained a sarcastic Hamilton, who eventually took fourth when Leclerc pitted on lap 43 to end a very drawn-out process.
That is compared to Mercedes which swapped its cars with seven laps remaining, as George Russell gave second to Kimi Antonelli, who had fresher tyres so could attack Lando Norris.
Although the McLaren driver still took victory, it was a decision both Antonelli and Russell agreed with as they completed the podium ahead of Hamilton and fifth-placed Leclerc.
“I want to win,” Hamilton told F1 TV. “I want to win. I’m here to win and it is difficult when you’re looking ahead and you see the two Mercedes drivers, they get the call and it’s done – they execute straight away.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Clive Rose / Formula 1 via Getty Images
“They let Kimi by and let him get on with the race. I was on a different strategy. It’s not the same here and that’s a little bit difficult, but we just have to take it.
“We’ll take it offline, and when I go back now, I’ll speak to them about it.”
Russell did well to take third though, as he feared that Mercedes had “lost a double podium”, because by letting Antonelli by, it put him under instant pressure from Hamilton.
The Mercedes driver held firm though, helped by the lap 70 virtual safety car for debris at Turn 5, and Hamilton reckons the earlier fiasco harmed his chances of overtaking his former team-mate.
When asked by Motorsport.com if the VSC stopped him from getting a podium, the seven-time world champion replied: “It felt like it was the closest opportunity I had.
“I think I’d come out of [Turn] 14 pretty close to him and I was just opening SM [Straight Line Mode] and just getting on the boost.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Michael Potts / LAT Images via Getty Images
“I don’t know whether or not we would have got by because the Mercedes is just so quick. You saw the McLaren fly past just on power. We’re losing like four tenths of a lap here just on straight lines.
“So that was a challenge, but I do think the time was lost when I was behind Charles, which ultimately meant I had a bigger distance to cover to try and catch up with George at the end.”
The result leaves Hamilton tied with Russell in second and 59 points behind Antonelli with 11 rounds remaining, a run where the Ferrari driver is hoping to add to his Barcelona victory.
But to do so Hamilton thinks the Italian marque must reduce its engine power deficit to Mercedes, despite various chassis upgrades it brought to the Netherlands.
“The one thing I’m definitely really proud of the team, they brought an upgrade here this weekend,” the 41-year-old added.
“We are getting closer to them but half the season we’ve been down in power. We really need to pick up the power if we’re going to be anywhere near trying to fight for them and closing the gap to them.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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