The Grand Prix of Monaco 2025 was another race after Ferrari had to switch to crisis mode – among other things because of obvious tensions in radio traffic between Lewis Hamilton and his racing engineer Riccardo Adami.
Because Hamilton had become fifth in the Grand Prix, while his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc took second place. It was the best Ferrari racing weekend without a sprint this year, but both drivers did not feel like celebrating: Hamilton seemed striking and taciturn in the after the race.
Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur later tried to play down possible tensions: “If a driver asks between curve 1 and 3, we have to wait until he reaches the tunnel to answer so that we do not disturb him during the curves,” said Vasseur.
Funk after the race provides speculation
“It is not the case that we sleep or drink a beer on the pit wall. We simply agreed in advance in which section of the route we speak to him.”
“And frankly, that’s not a tension. The driver asks something, he is between the guardrails, is under pressure, fights, drives, drives at 300 km/h. I spoke to him after the race. He was not upset at all,” says Vasseur.
Even if this explanation sounds plausible – racing drivers often react irritably when they receive information during difficult curve sequences – the most remarkable radio exchange was not heard during but after the race.
Hamilton no longer gets an answer
“P5” reported Adami in the outlet round. “Have lost a lot of time in traffic. We have to analyze the rest. And please collect rubber abrasion.”
Hamilton replied: “Yes, a big thank you to the boys, as I said, for repairing the car [nach dem Crash im Samstagstraining]. It wasn’t an easy weekend, but we continue to fight. So … yes. “
This was followed by radio silence. After all, Hamilton asked: “Are you mad at me or something?” – no answer.
Hamilton vs. Adami on the Ferrari team radio
Such radio sequences must be considered in the context, especially since Formula 1 has dramatized team radio in the past. But in this case the wording is said to have actually taken place exactly like this.
Before that, there had already been a scene during the race in which Hamilton asked whether the group before him – Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piatri – was “still almost a minute ahead”.
Adami’s answer: “Charles on medium and the McLarens on hard, in curve 16, very close together, fight together.”
“You don’t answer the question,” replied Hamilton. “It doesn’t matter. I just wanted to know if I was a minute in the back or …” Adami: “He is 48 seconds [vorne]. “
Why Hamilton was so frustrated
The mood in these exchanges cannot be explained solely by Hamilton’s position on the route. And if he was actually “not upset” at the conversation with Vasseur, then his mood between the media area and the team leader’s office must have improved significantly.
Hamilton crossed the finish line 51.387 seconds behind the racing winner Norris and 48.256 seconds behind Leclerc. That was likely to have worn him – as well as the fact that the race has largely isolated and without a chance in midfield, which was directly attributable to the failed communication with the team in qualifying.
How Hamilton Hadjar and Alonso overtook
The resulting gridstrafe threw him back behind Isack Hadjar in the Racing Bulls and Fernando Alonso in Aston Martin until they stopped 14 and 16 at the end.
Two free rounds before his own pit stop were enough to overtake both by overcut. But at that time he had already lost twelve seconds on his teammate because the top group – led by Norris – operated less tire management than Hadjar to build a lead.
Leclerc’s pit stop in round 23 was more disadvantageous than Hamilton, but from then on the distance grew steadily – in round 57 alone, Hamilton lost seven seconds on Leclerc.
Why Hamilton’s deficit was so big
Part of this deficit can be explained by traffic: Racing Bulls and Williams’ strategy to stop the field with a driver to enable the other to make a cheap stop, led to the fact that Alex Albon (11th) and Nico Hülkenberg (18th) were only eleven seconds. While the top 4 were able to overtake relatively easily, these cars were more difficult at Hamilton.
But most of the 48-second difference was simply because Hamilton cannot move the SF-25 as quickly as Leclerc. He attributes this to the lack of familiarity with the peculiarities of the Ferraris – but three tenths here and there quickly add up to a big deficit over a race distance.
As Hamilton himself said after qualifying: “This weekend was a pretty steep learning curve.”