Hamilton frustrated by Ferrari's indecision at Dutch GP

Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari needs to learn from the way Mercedes executed team orders in search of maximum points during Sunday's Dutch Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Kimi Antonelli took an extra pit stop that dropped him behind George Russell during a late Virtual Safety Car period in Zandvoort, and Mercedes told Russell to let the Italian through through due to their different strategies to protect a double podium result. Ferrari faced a similar scenario earlier in the race when Hamilton – on an different strategy to Charles Leclerc – caught his teammate, indecision left Hamilton stuck behind Leclerc for a number of laps before Ferrari called the lead car into the pits. 

“I want to win,” Hamilton said of his radio messages to the team at the time. “I want to win, I'm here to win. It is difficult when you're looking ahead and you see the two Mercedes drivers. They get the call and it's done, and they execute straight away. They let Kimi by and let him get on with the race. I was on a different strategy, and it's not the same here [at Ferrari]. That's a little bit difficult, but we'll just have to take it offline.”

Hamilton nearly secured a podium regardless, putting pressure on Russell in the closing stages until the Virtual Safety Car was deployed for debris just as he was lining up a pass with three laps remaining. 

“It felt like it was the closest opportunity I had," he said. "I think I'd come out of Turn 14 pretty close to him and I was just opening SM and just getting on the boost. I don't know whether or not we would have got by because Mercedes is just so quick. We were losing four tenths a lap here just on the straight line 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 to George.

“I think what's clear is I'm looking ahead and seeing the Mercedes, they execute like that [quickly]. They've got the car. They're fighting for the championship, in the lead, and they did it [made the decision] straight away. And here, [at Ferrari] I'm sitting back, losing seconds.

“The one thing [to add], I'm definitely really proud of the team, they brought an upgrade here this weekend. We are getting closer to them, but half the season we've been down on power so we really need to pick up the power if we're going to be anywhere near trying to fight for them and close the gap to them.”