"First he says his tyres are gone, then he says his tyres okay": Fans react to Lewis Hamilton protesting against Ferrari pit call

Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton had a disagreement with his race engineer over the decision to make a second pitstop at the 2025 Austrian GP on Sunday, June 29. Fans online reacted to the Ferrari driver's protest against the pit call made by the team at the Red Bull Ring.

Lewis Hamilton started the race in P4, avoided the mayhem behind him on Lap 1, and ran in the same position for the entirety of the race. The British driver opted for the primary strategy, i.e., two stops, and switched to the hard tires around the same time as the two McLaren drivers and his teammate Charles Leclerc.

Ferrari pitted Charles Leclerc with little over a quarter of the race left, which promoted Lewis Hamilton into P3. The Briton had previously complained about his tires overheating. Soon after Leclerc's pitstop, Ferrari asked Hamilton to pit for a new set of tires. However, the seven-time F1 champion suggested his tires were okay, and inquired with the team about his pace and the laps left in the race.

The same led to back and forth between the team and driver, as the British driver protested against Ferrari's strategy to pit him with 20 laps to go.

“Is my pace really bad? Because the tires are fine,” said Hamilton on the Team radio.

“We box now for the fastest race, optimal race,” responded the race engineer.

“The tires are okay, can I extend? How many more lap left? I don’t want to stop, 20 laps left,” said the Briton.

The fans online reacted to Hamilton's protest against Ferrari's pit strategy, and they pointed out how Hamilton’s lap times dropped as he struggled with tire temperatures, yet he wanted to continue when the Scuderia asked him to stop.

“First his says he's tyres are gone then when he gets through he says his tyres okay 🤣🤣🤣🤣,” wrote a fan.

“This was a dirty trick to stay ahead… But Charles would’ve gotten him either way!” commented another.

“That’s why they ignored him. Don’t want the drama,” another fan wrote.

Some fans suggested that even if Hamilton stayed out, Leclerc would've passed him with fresher tires, as they suggested that Ferrari made the right call.

“staying out wouldn't even have made any sense imo,” claimed a fan.

“For once, I think Ferrari were actually right to bring Lewis in, his times were dropping off a cliff. Lewis does this a lot though where he says his tyres are gone and then he magically improves, Ferrari could have left him out and put the onus on him,” another wrote.

“Sounds desperate to be honest. At almost every point of the race Hamilton was slower than LeClerc,” commented another user.

Leclerc finished third as McLaren recorded another one-two finish to extend their lead in both title races.

“Didn’t really have the pace today”: Lewis Hamilton's post-race team radio at the 2025 Austrian GP

Lewis Hamilton had a lonely race at the Austrian GP, where Charles Leclerc comfortably ran away with P3, and George Russell in P5 was considerably slower than the seven-time F1 champion. Hamilton came onto the radio after the race and thanked the team for the car, while also suggesting that the SF25 didn't have the pace at the Red Bull Ring. He said:

“Great job, guys. What a great weekend and result for us. Really good job, I’m really proud of you. Let’s keep pushing. I didn’t really have the pace today, we need to figure that out. Thanks anyway.”

Lewis Hamilton finished the race 10 seconds behind Charles Leclerc, and had a 30-second gap to Russell behind him in P5.