Danica Patrick's verdict on Lewis Hamilton's post race demeanor

Despite finishing in P8 after a tough battle in Miami, Lewis Hamilton appeared positive and calm during the post-race interview. His upbeat demeanor moved Danica Patrick as she finally saw Hamilton accepting Ferrari's flaws.

Ferrari made things worse for both Hamilton and Leclerc during the Miami Grand Prix owing to a lack of clarity in communication. Though both the drivers wanted to chase Kimi Antonelli for P6, neither succeeded, and they settled for P7 (Leclerc) and P8 (Hamilton), respectively.

The seven-time world champion was frustrated as he blasted Ferrari with sarcastic snaps on team radio. However, in the post-race interview, his tone completely changed. He appeared calm and defended his stand. Moreover, Hamilton accepted his fate and promised to come back stronger.

"I truly believe that when we fix some of the problems we have with the car, we'll be back in the fight with Mercedes and with the Red Bulls. We'll try something different at the next race; we'll keep working on our processes. I look forward to a time when maybe I can fight for a podium; that would be nice," he told Sky Sports.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton's positive outlook impressed F1 pundit Danica Patrick. She stated that the Brit has finally accepted that something was wrong with the car. As per her, this could be a stepping stone towards a potential comeback in the future. She cited the example of McLaren's surge in 2024 to prove her point.

“He’s much cooler, smiling," Patrick said, via f1oversteer. "I mean, that’s the first time I feel like I’ve heard that we know what it is, so that’s a positive. If they really know what it is and they feel that they know what’s coming, I mean, shoot, look what happened with McLaren when Zak [Brown] said, ‘We’re going to figure this out; give us until mid-season,’ and they did."

She added:

"I mean, they’ve got things coming, great, that’ll be good to see, but it doesn’t ignore the fact that they need to make sure that strategy and communication are all really seamless and clear. I’ll say it again, it’s still race fix for Lewis and the team, but this is Formula 1.”

Hamilton, though, refused to apologize for his radio comments, saying it wasn't disrespectful or mean.

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Ferrari boss reacts to Lewis Hamilton's frustration with team orders

Lewis Hamilton at F1 Grand Prix of Miami - Source: Getty

Lewis Hamilton requested to swap with Charles Leclerc during the Miami Grand Prix, as he was faster on medium tires. However, after four laps, Ferrari let him pass Leclerc to gain P7, only to reverse the pecking order a few laps later. At the end of the race, no driver gained anything, as Leclerc finished P7 and Hamilton settled for P8.

However, the British driver made headlines with his sarcastic and angry radio messages. His frustration wasn't approved by team principal Fred Vasseur, as he said, via Motorsport.com:

“In this situation, [Hamilton] has to understand what my feeling was on the pit wall. He can trust me, I can trust him, and the same with Charles. When I have to make a decision, I am making a decision for Ferrari with the element that you have to live. It's not that you have 30 minutes to have a look at the data and so on. You have to decide who is the fastest on the track, whether it's coming from the DRS or not."

Interestingly, Lewis Hamilton revealed that Fred Vasseur came to meet him after the race, and the Brit asked him to calm down and not be sensitive.