Lewis Hamilton addresses the contentious position swap with Charles Leclerc during the F1 Miami GP

Lewis Hamilton addressed the position swapping fiasco with him and Charles Leclerc during the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, May 4, claiming that he simply wanted to make the most of his fresh tires during that moment in the race. The Briton also shared that the frustration over the team radio came simply from the 'exitement' of the moment.

Hamilton ended the Miami GP in P8, after swapping positions with his teammate Leclerc in the final stages of the race. The Ferrari man also escaped a last lap scare, as Carlos Sainz divebombed into turn 17 from behind Hamilton, causing an incident which is set to be investigated after the race.

Speaking to the media after the race on Sunday (May 4), the 7x F1 world champion further expanded on the situation regarding the contentious swap with Leclerc during the Miami GP.

“Things started to come alive [after the pit stop], I was getting excited, I was P8, fresh tire and I clearly had a lot more pace. In that moment I was like ‘let’s utilize it’," said Lewis Hamilton.

“A lot of time was lost in the scenario that we had, of course in the heat of the moment it’s frustrating but we’ll internally work and figure out how we can improve. I’m sure there’s some sensitivities. I’m not feeling sensitive. We’re not where we want to be, Charles and I," he added.

Lewis Hamilton appeared to be having a torrid time out on the track on Sunday, as he was in constant argument with the Ferrari pit wall through his race engineer, Riccardo Adami. The Briton ended up finishing the race in P8, behind his teammate Charles Leclerc in seventh.

At first, Hamilton blasted his team for taking too long in swapping him and Leclerc during the middle phase of the race when he was on quicker tires behind.

Later on, the 40-year-old also ripped into his team for asking him to give the position back to his teammate, when he was unable to make any meaningful gains towards Kimi Antonelli in sixth.

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Lewis Hamilton reminded Ferrari of China when asking to swap positions with Charles Leclerc at the Miami GP

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

Lewis Hamilton reminded his team of him swapping positions with teammate Charles Leclerc during the Chinese Grand Prix, as he asked his team to return the favor this time around at Miami. The Ferrari pit wall had eventually told the Briton to hold position in P8 behind his teammate.

Reminding his team of him being asked to swap places at Shanghai during round 2 of the season, Hamilton said:

"In China, I got out of the way when you were on a different strategy!”

After being told that they will now swap positions after a delay on the team radio, Hamilton replied in agitation, saying:

"Ah..Have a tea break while you’re at it! Come on."

Leclerc was eventually asked to swap positions, as Hamilton inherited P7 and looked to go after Kimi Antonelli in sixth. But the Briton did not make much progress, and was ordered to give the place back to Leclerc in the final stages of the race.