Lewis Hamilton’s bust-up with Charles Leclerc shows he’s up for F1 title fight and Ferrari must start listening to him

LEWIS HAMILTON’S red mist at the weekend shows there is fire in the old dog in this season’s title fight. The seven-time world champion, 41, did not hold back in Zandvoort, fuming at Ferrari and his team-mate Charles Leclerc at the Dutch Grand Prix. Hamilton was ticked off with his own team and Leclerc Credit: Getty Leclerc refused to pit and stayed out three extra laps – which dented Hamilton’s podium hopes Credit: Shutterstock Editorial On numerous occasions, he snapped over the team radio after a strategy hesitation behind Leclerc cost him a podium spot. Hamilton was in hot pursuit of Leclerc by lap 43, and felt he had more pace – but the Monegasque driver was reluctant to let him by and refused to pit. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! Hamilton remained stuck behind Leclerc for the next three laps until Leclerc’s pit stop, squandering around 2.5 seconds – which proved costly when the Virtual Safety Car came out. And Hamilton was right to give his team a roasting. If he had those extra 2.5 seconds he would have reached the VSC in the lead and avoided losing further time defending Norris and Antonelli. He quipped to his team: “Are you using me as a guinea pig?” as he was practically a sitting duck as the McLaren and Mercedes then respectively overtook him. Hamilton went on to finish the race in fourth and is now joint second in the standings with George Russell, 59 points adrift of Kimi Antonelli. The Brit said the strategy palaver would be discussed “offline” with his team, but Ferrari really must start listening to the seven-time world title winner. Most read in Sport BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS The best travel deals for F1 NOTHING comes close to the thrill of a live Grand Prix – and YOU can be there to see it all. Get the full F1 experience with these unbeatable deals. 🇳🇱 HOLLAND – 20 to 25 Aug – From £1,089pp 🇮🇹 ITALY – 3 to 8 Sept – From £789pp 🇦🇿 AZERBAIJAN – 22 to 27 Sept – From £1,399pp 🇸🇬 SINGAPORE– 7 to 14 Oct – From £1,999pp 🇺🇸 AUSTIN, USA – 21 to 26 Oct – From £2,799pp 🇶🇦 QATAR – 27 to 29 Nov – From £1,049pp 🇦🇪 ABU DHABI – 4 to 6 Dec – From £2,049pp See ALL our F1 travel offers HERE *If you click on a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue. Hamilton also called on his team to have “better execution” in his post-race interview while using his old team Mercedes as an example for perfectly executing team orders. In a battle cry after the race, he added: “I’m here to win and I really believe that this team can win. To win championships you have to pick up every point. “The last few races have been difficult with penalties and today I lost several seconds behind Charles which I think ultimately would have made the difference at the end. “My goal is to try and lead this team to the championship and we’ve got some work to do for sure.” Hamilton’s first win at Ferrari in Barcelona earlier this year was an 18-month long effort. The British legend has previously credited team principal Fred Vasseur for backing him while he was being “very, very vocal” and “relentless” trying to push through certain changes at Ferrari in the background. Ferrari’s support also extended to rejigging the engineering set-up Hamilton has around him, including a high-profile change of race engineer that the Brit pushed for. Hamilton said after his first win: “The changes that I’ve asked for and pushed for all last year have been made, and I now have the right team around me.” All of the changes that Hamilton asked for paid off, so Ferrari need to continue listening to the Brit as he has shown he is ready to scrap for a record eighth world title. Comment now