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Lewis Hamilton was looking to secure his first race win of the 2022 season at the F1 Dutch Grand Prix last weekend. The Briton, however, was left understandably frustrated by Mercedes' strategy that cost him a potential win.
Hamilton was quick to make his frustrations rather apparent in a rant over team radio that "amazed" former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve. The Canadian accused the seven-time world champion of almost "insulting" his team over the radio towards the end of the race.
In the last few laps of the race, Hamilton was passed by his teammate George Russell and Charles Leclerc's Ferrari after Mercedes decided to pit him for the medium compound tires instead of the softs. Forget challenging Max Verstappen for the win, Hamilton even failed to make it to the podium places itself and finished the race in fourth.
In his column for Formula1.nl, Villeneuve wrote:
“I was amazed by Lewis Hamilton’s outburst in the race and especially the way it was done. He was aggressive, almost insulting. It is good that he has apologized, but this is not befitting a champion. After everything the team has done for him, you shouldn’t be speaking to them like that. I see a turnaround within Mercedes, George Russell is rapidly developing into the leader of the team. He made the decision himself to go for that soft tire, Hamilton could have done that with all his experience and championships.”
“They decided to go for the win this way and that turned out not to be the right decision. For years their advantage was so great that they didn’t have to make very difficult strategic decisions. They won anyway. Now that they are less fast, it is more difficult to make the right call. Then Hamilton also messed up his restart, where he eventually lost his podium.”
Earlier during the 2022 F1 Dutch GP, the Mercedes driver shared his frustration with the team over the radio following the botched strategy. He said:
“I can’t believe you guys f****d me, I can’t tell you how f****d I am.”
At the end of the race, team boss Toto Wolff advised him to discuss the matter in private, saying:
“We took a risk, it didn’t work out but let’s discuss between us in the office.”
Lewis Hamilton, however, responded in a collected manner, saying:
“To all the mechanics, fantastic job today, it’s the best pit stops we’ve had all year so thank you. We continue the efforts and let’s keep pushing. We still got points today.”
The Briton later apologized to the whole team for his reaction over the team radio.
Lewis Hamilton expecting a win soon, given the pace at 2022 F1 Dutch GP
Lewis Hamilton was quick to get a hold of his emotions after stepping out of his car at the end of the race in Zandvoort last weekend. He admitted that if the pace from the Dutch GP is anything to go by, a race win shouldn't be too far for Mercedes.
As reported by the Guardian, Hamilton said:
“We have got so many positives to take from this weekend. Yes, I got fourth in the end but the car felt great. If the car feels like this at the other races we’re going to be fighting for a win and that’s amazing.”
Lewis Hamilton currently stands sixth in the drivers' standings with 158 points to his name.
