Angry Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes ‘f***ing screwed me’ in a foul-mouthed rant at his own team after their pit stop strategy blew the seven-time world champion’s chances of victory at the Dutch Grand Prix
- Lewis Hamilton exploded over the team radio after Mercedes’ pit stop strategy
- The Brit was in contention for his first win of the year at the Dutch Grand Prix
- But home favourite Max Verstappen won the race as Hamilton dropped to fourth
- Charles Leclerc and George Russell also overtook the 37-year-old driver late on
- Hamilton later apologised to his Mercedes team for losing his cool over the radio
Lewis Hamilton exploded into a furious rant over the team radio after Mercedes’ pit stop strategy blighted the Brit’s chances of a first race win of the season.
The seven-time world champion showed impressive pace throughout Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix and late on carved out an opportunity to cross the chequered flag first, ahead of archrival and home favourite Max Verstappen.
After Mercedes opted for a one-stop strategy, Hamilton found himself leading the race when a safety car was initiated on lap 55 – as the reigning Red Bull champion and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc pulled into the pits to change tyres.
Lewis Hamilton was furious after Mercedes’ pit stop strategy blew his chances of a race win
Home favourite Max Verstappen overtook the 37-year-old late on to win the Dutch Grand Prix
Although Hamilton was told to remain out in a bid to hold track position, Mercedes called in his team-mate George Russell, after the 24-year-old insisted he was losing tyre temperature on the mediums.
By the restart on lap 61, Verstappen was directly behind Hamilton on fresher tyres and easily surpassed the Mercedes driver to retake the lead.
To rub salt in Hamilton’s wounds, Leclerc and Russell also managed to overtake him late on to force the 37-year-old back to fourth ahead of the chequered flag.
‘That was the biggest f*** up,’ Hamilton yelled over Mercedes’ team radio.
‘I can’t believe you guys f***ing screwed me. I can’t tell you how p***ed I am.’
After the chequered flag fell, Hamilton’s race engineer Peter Bonnington said: ‘Sorry about that, Lewis.
‘It was looking good, but we will sit down and review the decisions we made.’
Mercedes’ one-stop strategy also helped team-mate George Russell to overtake Hamilton
Toto Wolff added his voice to the list of apologies. ‘Lewis, sorry it didn’t work out,’ the Mercedes team principal said.
‘We took a risk. Let’s discuss it between us in the office.’
Hamilton came on the radio to express gratitude only to his mechanics, leaving out any mention of his team’s strategy department, headed up by James Vowles.
‘To all the mechanics, fantastic job today,’ he said.
‘They were the best pit-stops of the season so thank you for the continued efforts. Let’s keep pushing. We still got points today.’
An hour after the chequered flag fell, Hamilton explained his radio fury.
He later apologised to his team for losing it over the radio, admitting he was at ‘breaking point’
‘I don’t want to apologise for my passion, because that is just how I am made and I don’t always get it right,’ he said.
‘I am sorry to my team for what I said because it was made in the heat of the moment.
‘Of course I am disappointed. It has been such a rollercoaster ride this year. I got up to second, I was catching them (Verstappen) and thinking, “Wow, we could be fighting for a win here, and maybe a one-two”.
‘And then the safety car came through and fricking emotions were all over the place. I knew at that moment I had lost it because everyone was on the soft tyre and there was no way I was going to hold them behind me.’
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