"We can win the race with Lewis Hamilton": Charles Leclerc's sarcastic team radio during the F1 Imola GP

Despite Ferrari's positive result with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at the recently concluded Emilia Romagna GP, the latter was unimpressed by his team's tactics. Leclerc, who was running strong within the top five, questioned the team's pit strategy and threw a sarcastic statement involving Hamilton.

In Lap 46 of the Imola GP race, Leclerc was in P4 and was maintaining his delta time after Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes pulled off the track, and brought in a full safety car. In this situation, teams and drivers often pit and go for fresher tires in lesser time.

This was something Leclerc and his race engineer Xavi were discussing. However, a few messages from Xavi infuriated the #16 driver and left him unimpressed. As Leclerc was discussing if he should pit for soft compounds during the safety car period, Xavi informed him that his teammate, Hamilton did not want to pit.

Replying to it, Leclerc said:

"I don't care, I don't care. We're speaking about ourselves." (0:57)

Following this, he spoke to his race engineer and decided to pit. However, Leclerc refrained from pitting as he saw Hamilton, who was running in P3, dive into the pit stop, and he did not want to lose time by waiting behind.

By the time Charles Leclerc made a round around the track, the pit window closed. As a result, he had to stay with the hard compound he received on Lap 32. Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, dropped from P3 to P7, but with an advantageous soft compound.

As it happened, an unimpressed Leclerc took to his team radio and said:

"Yeah yeah, I think we can win the race with Lewis [Hamilton]. (1:47)

Here's a video of Charles Leclerc's team radio exchange with his race engineer Xavi during the Emilia Romagna GP:

Thanks to a superior tire advantage, Lewis Hamilton was able to pass Isack Hadjar, Alex Albon and his teammate, Charles Leclerc, to finish the race in P4. Meanwhile, the #16 driver came home in P6.

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Lewis Hamilton thanked Ferrari amid unhappy Charles Leclerc situation

While Charles Leclerc was unhappy with how things panned out for him at the Emilia Romagna GP, Lewis Hamilton was cheerful. Speaking after the race, here's what the seven-time world champion said:

"There’s still work to do, especially over one lap, but if we can keep building on days like this, we’ll be in the mix for podiums. Grazie mille tifosi: your support means the world and I hope we made you proud today."

Currently, the Prancing Horse are in P4 in the Constructors' championship with 114 points, behind McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull. Charles Leclerc is in P5 of the Drivers' standings with 61 points, followed by Lewis Hamilton in P6 with 53 points.