JUST NOW: “LEWIS HAMILTON SLAMS ‘OBVIOUS’ FERRARI STRATEGY ERROR IN U…..see more in comments

  JUST NOW: “LEWIS HAMILTON SLAMS ‘OBVIOUS’ FERRARI STRATEGY ERROR IN U…..see more in comments 

  Lewis Hamilton vented his frustration at Ferrari after a disjointed qualifying session at Monza left both SF-26s starting on the second row. The seven-time champion qualified fifth, 0.007s behind teammate Charles Leclerc in fourth, after the team failed to deliver a proper slipstream plan in Q3. “Didn’t execute that well,” Hamilton said post-session. He explained that Ferrari’s plan was a “push, cool, cool, push” in Q2, but delays meant he only got one flying lap. In Q3 it was worse: “My Q3, I didn’t have any wheels on the car, basically, and everyone left whilst my engine was running, but I didn’t. I went out like 25 seconds behind everyone. And that just put me out of rhythm”.

  Hamilton was particularly critical of the lack of teamwork and timing from the pit wall. With slipstream crucial at Monza, Ferrari started FP1 with a 1-2 but fumbled when it mattered. Both drivers nearly missed Q2, with Hamilton only progressing by “We did a great job overnight. I was really happy with the car… And then I waited, to use that tyre again for Q2. And we were supposed to do a push, cool, cool, push. But because Charles didn’t want to go out first, we had to wait, wait, wait, and then we only got one push”. Looking at surprise polesitter Pierre Gasly, Hamilton noted: “Looking from a distance, it looked like they worked really well as a team”, a clear dig at Ferrari’s “pretty bad” execution.

  The Monza errors come at a critical point in the title fight. Hamilton and Leclerc started the race third and fourth, but with championship leader Kimi Antonelli starting from the back due to penalties, Ferrari had a chance to take a big points swing. Instead, Hamilton called for team orders after qualifying, saying Ferrari needed to “work as a team” with 59 points to make up. The frustration mirrors his Dutch GP radio rant, where he told Ferrari “Great waste of time there, guys” after being held behind Leclerc on fresher tyres. Hamilton later apologised for the tone but maintained the passion comes from “believing in this team”. With Leclerc then crashing out on lap 2 at Parabolica, Ferrari’s home race went from bad to worse, leaving Hamilton to fight back alone.